Common Carder Bee
Bombus pascuorum
The only common UK bumblebee that is mostly brown/ginger, but lacks a white tail. Widely distributed and the most common of the ‘carder’ bumblebees, probably due to the broad range of habitats and flowers it is able to make use of.
Appearance
Queens, workers and males all have a ginger thorax and a paler ginger abdomen with black hairs visible between the bands. Colour is variable depending on location and individuals range from pale ginger to almost black, often fading and becoming quite threadbare with age. Common Carders may appear very similar to other carder species, but are much more widespread and abundant.
About the bee
– ginger thorax
– ginger and black striped abdomen
– males have ginger facial hair
Size
– Queen: 13mm
– Worker: 10mm
– Male: 11mm
Tongue length
Long (8mm)
Nest
Usually at ground level in dense vegetation and sometimes above ground in places like tree cavities. Moss is often used to cover the nest.
Colony size
Variable, generally small to medium (60 to 150 workers).
Map and flight periods
Similar species
The Brown-banded Carder Bee is generally paler than the Common Carder Bee, but the second band, and sometimes the third band, of the abdomen are darker. There are usually black hairs at the bases of the wings.
Moss Carder Bee queens are slightly larger, have shorter, neater hairs and a more intensely ginger thorax. Males and workers are smaller with longer hairs.