BOMB US 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 

 beingr 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. 



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