158 THE HUMBLE-BEE 



2. BOMBUS TERRESTRIS, Linnaeus. 



Large Earth Humble-bee. 



Synonym : virginalis (Kirby), according to Smith. 



Queen. Large; length 20-22 mm., expanse 40-42 

 mm. 



Black, with a band of deep yellow across the front of the 

 thorax and another on the 2nd segment of the abdomen, and 

 with the tail tawny, the zone of this colour usually com- 

 mencing on the 4th segment, near its edge. 



Dark specimens have the yellow band on the thorax 

 narrow and dusky or absent, and often the yellow band 

 on the abdomen brownish. 



Worker. Length 11-17 mm. 



Resembles the queen, but the tail is white or tawny-white, 

 always, however, shading into tawny at its extreme base. 



Male. Length 14-16 mm., expanse 30-33 mm. 



Black, with a yellow band across the front of the thorax, 

 a yellow band on the 2nd segment of the abdomen, and the 

 tail tawny-white, the zone of this colour usually commen- 

 cing on the 4th segment. 



Antennae short ; length of flagellum 5 mm. 



Armature almost exactly like that of B. lucoruin. 



I possess a specimen from Ripple, in which the tail is black. 



In England this fine humble-bee is probably more 

 abundant than any other species, but in Scotland 

 and the north of Ireland it is outnumbered by 

 B. lucoruin, and I know of no specimens from 

 Orkney or Shetland. 



Abroad it has a wide distribution, extending over 

 almost the whole of Europe and southwards to the 

 north coast of Africa, where it breeds in the winter 

 and sleeps in the summer. It has also been accli- 



