a BOMBUS AGRORUM 193 
15. BOMBUS AGRORUM, Fabricius. 
Common Carder-bee. 
Synonym :—muscorum (Linn.), according to Smith. 
QUEEN.—Small; length 16-18 mm., expanse 29- 
32 mm. 
Head clothed with a mixture of pale and black hairs. 
Thorax bright tawny-yellow, often somewhat paler: black 
hairs often appear among the tawny-yellow ; when these 
black hairs are scarce they are scattered across the front of 
the thorax, when numerous they form a sooty smudge, 
shaped somewhat like a triangle, with its base on the front 
of the thorax, the back part of the thorax at the sides 
being left more or less unblackened. 
On the abdomen the general scheme of colour is—the 
base pale yellow, the middle black, and the tail tawny; but 
the colours frequently encroach upon one another, pro- 
ducing a great variety of patterns. In a common variety 
the black extends up and down the sides of the abdomen ; 
in some cases the tawny colour spreads at the same time 
on to the middle of the abdomen, producing a unique 
pattern. In another common variety the whole abdomen 
is black, with the edges of the segments more or less 
fringed with pale yellow, the fringes being widest on the 
apical segments; this pale yellow may spread over the 
whole of the abdomen, causing the bee to resemble a 
somewhat faded helferanus or muscorum, but specimens 
that show no black hairs at the sides of the 3rd and 4th 
segments are rare. 
The coat is rather thin, uneven, and moderately long. 
WORKER.—Length 10-15 mm. 
Only differs from the queen in size. 
MALE.—Length 13-14 mm., expanse 24-27 mm. 
Coloured like the queen. 
Coat rather long and rather uneven. 
