Common Eastern Bumblebee

This is probably an Common Eastern Bumblebee, 1 of our most commonly seen bumblebees, but other bumblebees in the area can look similar, especially the Brown-belted Bumblebee and the Two-spotted Bumblebee. (Presumably the bumblebees have no difficulty distinguishing their species from the others, but IDing them can be tricky for us humans.)

I have to admit that the 1st time I saw a bee with those orange blobs [1] on the legs, I wondered whether it was due to disease or some sort of parasite, but it turns out that they are pollen baskets. While "basket" may make you think of a container, bee pollen baskets are basically all pollen shaped into an oval that the bee can carry home. Quite a few bees will use pollen baskets, including honeybees, bumblebees, stingless bees, and orchid bees. My guess is that the presence of pollen baskets suggests that this particular bee had a successful day of pollen foraging.

September 7, 2020 at the John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 94666481, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] The color of pollen baskets varies depending on the color(s) of the flower pollen gathered by the bee.

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