Field Guide
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White-tailed Bumblebee
Bombus lucorum
Not yet photographed by the community
Yellow-banded with clean white tail.
Species Profile
Green List (Least Concern); common and widespread with stable populations
- Lifespan
- Queens live 1–2 years; workers live 4–6 weeks; males live a few weeks
- Size & Weight
- Queens 20–22 mm; workers 14–18 mm; males 15–17 mm
- Habitat
- Open grasslands, meadows, heathland, gardens, and agricultural margins with abundant wildflowers and clover.
- UK Distribution
- Widespread throughout the UK, including Scotland, Wales, and northern England; resident species with populations present year-round.
- Diet
- Adults feed on nectar and pollen from a wide range of flowering plants; larvae are fed regurgitated nectar and pollen by workers.
- Predators
- Robber flies, Asian hornets (in localised areas), and parasitic flies; nests also raided by badgers and other mammals.
- Mating Season
- July to September
- Breeding
- Queens produce a single annual colony of 50–400 workers; eggs hatch in 3 days, larvae pupate after 10–14 days; new queens and males emerge in late summer.
- Behaviour
- Highly social, living in colonies with a clear worker-queen hierarchy. Workers communicate through waggle dances and pheromones to signal flower locations. Queens are semi-claustrine, remaining in the nest to lay eggs while workers forage.
- •Named for the distinctive white tail (abdomen tip) visible on queens and workers, making them easily identifiable in the field
- •One of the UK's most important native pollinators, particularly effective at pollinating soft fruits and legumes
- •Capable of 'buzz pollination', vibrating their flight muscles at specific frequencies to release pollen from plants like tomatoes and blueberries
- •Can forage in cooler and wetter weather than many other bee species, extending the pollination season in Britain
- •Queens can survive winter by overwintering in soil or leaf litter, emerging in spring to establish new colonies without a pre-existing nest
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