Red-tailed bumblebee
Bombus lapidarius
The red-tailed bumblebee is a social wild bee species characterized by its jet-black body and distinct bright red-orange tip at the end of the abdomen. It prefers open landscapes, gardens, and parks, often nesting under rock piles or in wall crevices. A colony typically consists of 100 to 300 individuals, with the queen being significantly larger than the workers.
Details
Identification
Body with deep black hair, the last three segments of the abdomen are bright red or orange-red.
Social behavior
Eusocial; forms annual colonies with a queen and specialized workers.
Diet
Polylectic diet; collects nectar and pollen from a wide variety of plant families such as Lamiaceae and clover.
Spawning substrate
Nests underground in rodent burrows or above ground in rock piles and wall crevices.
Overwintering
Mated young queens overwinter in self-dug burrows in loose soil.
Ecology
Ecological role
Important pollinator for numerous wild and crop plants in various habitats.
Natural predators
Birds such as the red-backed shrike, robber flies, spiders, and the red-tailed cuckoo bumblebee as a brood parasite.
Competitor species
Other bumblebee species and the honeybee during foraging.
Ecosystem service
Pollination ensures plant reproduction and the production of seeds and fruits.
Threats
Loss of nesting sites, use of insecticides, and decline in floral resources due to intensive agriculture.
Scientific profile
Profile
Distinguishing features
Short proboscis; pollen storer. Females lack yellow bands, unlike Bombus terrestris. The red coloration of the tail is sharply defined. The leg hairs are black in B. lapidarius, distinguishing it from the similar B. ruderarius.
Habitat
Widespread in open landscapes, nutrient-poor meadows, dikes, forest edges, gardens, and urban parks. Considered a synanthropic species.
Protection & threats
Main threats
Agricultural intensification (loss of fallow land), use of insecticides (neonicotinoids), decline of late-blooming plant species, and lack of nesting sites due to soil sealing.
Population trend
Stable; the Red-tailed bumblebee is one of the most common and least threatened bumblebee species in Central Europe, though it shows local declines in intensively farmed areas.
Conservation measures
Preservation of flower-rich meadows and margin structures, promotion of organic farming, provision of nesting opportunities (e.g., stone piles), and avoidance of pesticides in gardens.