Common Eastern Bumble Bee

I think this is an Eastern Common Bumble Bee. At least one person on iNaturalist agreed with this identification, it looks plausible, and this is considered to be one of the most common (hence in name) of our bumble bees.

Bumble bees are sometimes confused with other insects like honey bees or carpenter bees or bumble bee mimics like the Snowberry Clearwing Moth and some hover flies. While honey bees and carpenter bees are obviously related, flies and butterflies are basically just trying to look like someone who can sting you (Batesian mimicry).

Though their hive-dwelling honey bee cousins get a lot of the love and attention, technically they're an invasive species (albeit an important one for agriculture/horticulture). If you're trying to support native wildlife, supporting our native bumble bees is an excellent start.

I'm thinking that the brown mass on the back leg is a pollen basket, the way that a bumble bee can transport pollen back to its nest.

August 16, 2020 at Finderne, NJ


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