Cryptic bumble bee
Bombus cryptarum
The cryptic bumble bee is a fuzzy bumblebee that is very good at hiding in plain sight. It looks so much like a few other bumblebees that even experts struggle to tell them apart. Yet it is one of the most widespread bumblebees in the world.
Lives in
Europe, Asia and western North America
What does it eat?
It drinks nectar and collects pollen from flowers, like other bumblebees.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Cryptic bumble bee about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It was only recently found to live in the British Isles.
2
In the north it lives on open plains, especially where heather grows.
3
In the south it lives up in the mountains.
4
One kind of it in Japan is endangered.
you asked
Most asked questions about Cryptic bumble bee
?Why is it called the cryptic bumble bee?
Because it looks so much like other bumblebees that it is very hard to recognise.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Bombus cryptarum
- Group
- Bees and bumblebees
- Family
- Apidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Apidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Cryptic bumblebee
Where the facts come from
- Bombus cryptarum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Ivar Leidus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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