List of world bumblebees

Bumble bees are familiar and popular insects, but identifying and classifying the different species is complicated. Bombus (list of world bumble bees) is a checklist of all known species that assists experts with this challenge.

Bumble bees are very appealing animals and over the years collectors have amassed vast hoards of specimens. Large, brightly coloured and active during daylight hours, bumble bees are relatively easy to collect, but identifying and classifying the different species is much harder. Many look confusingly similar, while some species change their appearance dramatically during their life cycle. Others have different coloured bodies according to where they live. As a result, many specimens are wrongly named and classified.

The Bombus site aims to solve this problem by providing a comprehensive and reliable checklist for bumble bee experts. The world’s 245 species of bumble bee are listed in three ways: alphabetically, by geographical location, and by grouping similar species together.

The site also provides information on where each species is found, and describes the other species for which they are commonly mistaken.

List of world bumble bees

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