NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Bumblebee

This article is about the flying insect. For other uses see Bumblebee (disambiguation) or Bombus (disambiguation). Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera...

Bumblebees (also spelled bumble bee, also known as humblebee) are flying insects of the genus Bombus in the family Apidae. Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Subfamilies Apinae - Honeybees Bombinae - Bumblebees Euglossinae - Orchid bees Meliponinae - Stingless bees Nomadinae Xylocopinae - Carpenter bees The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honeybees, stingless bees (which are also cultured for honey), carpenter bees, and bumblebees. ...

Bumblebees are social insects that are characterized by black and yellow body hairs, often in bands. However, some species have orange or red on their bodies, or may be entirely black^[1]. Another obvious (but not unique) characteristic is the soft nature of that hair (long, branched setae), called pile, that covers their entire body, making them appear and feel fuzzy. They are best distinguished from similarly large, fuzzy bees by the form of the female hind leg, which is modified to form a corbicula; a shiny concave surface that is bare, but surrounded by a fringe of hairs used to transport pollen (in similar bees, the hind leg is completely hairy, and pollen grains are wedged into the hairs for transport). Meat Eater ant colony swarming Fire ants Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialization found in some animals. ... Look up seta in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... honeybee pollen basket The pollen basket or corbicula is part of the hind tibia of the back (posterior) legs of the honeybee. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ...

Like their relatives the honey bees, bumblebees feed on nectar and gather pollen to feed their young. The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. ... In Greek mythology, nectar and ambrosia are the food of the gods. ...

Biology

The blood or hemolymph, as in other arthropods, is carried in an open circulatory system. The body organs, "heart" (dorsal aorta), muscles, etc. are surrounded in a reservoir of blood. The dorsal aorta does pulse blood through its long tube, though, so there is a circulation of sorts. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 733 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1003 Ã— 821 pixel, file size: 700 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A bumblebee covered in pollen rests on a rhododendron. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 733 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1003 Ã— 821 pixel, file size: 700 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A bumblebee covered in pollen rests on a rhododendron. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 546 pixelsFull resolution (1369 Ã— 934 pixel, file size: 808 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 546 pixelsFull resolution (1369 Ã— 934 pixel, file size: 808 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Binomial name Bombus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebee or large earth bumblebee is a social bumblebee and one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Bumblebee_on_Sea_Holly. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Bumblebee_on_Sea_Holly. ... It has been suggested that Eringoes be merged into this article or section. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Dronefertilizesbumblebee2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Dronefertilizesbumblebee2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 533 pixelsFull resolution (1800 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 533 pixelsFull resolution (1800 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 1. ... Binomial name Bombus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebee or large earth bumblebee is a social bumblebee and one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe. ... Hemolymph (or haemolymph) is the blood analogue used by all arthropods and most mollusks that have an open circulatory system. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... For transport in plants, see Vascular tissue. ...

In fertilised queens the ovaries are activated and when the queen lays her egg it passes along the oviduct to the vagina. In the vagina there is a container called the spermatheca. This is where the queen stored sperm from her mating. Before she lays the egg she will decide whether to use sperm from the spermatheca to fertilise it or not. Non-fertilised eggs grow into males, and only fertilised eggs grow into females and queens. In oviparous animals (those that lay eggs), the passage from the ovaries to the outside of the body is known as the oviduct. ... The spermatheca is a part of the female reproductive tract in insects, some molluscs, and certain other invertebrates. ...

As in all animals hormones play a big role in the growth and development of the bumblebee. The hormones that stimulate the development of the ovaries are suppressed in the other female worker bees while the queen remains dominant. Salivary glands in the head secrete saliva which is mixed with the nectar and pollen. Saliva is also mixed into the nest materials to soften them. The fat body is a nutritional store; before hibernation queens eat as much as they can to enlarge their fat body, and the fat in the cells is used up during hibernation. Hormone is also the NATO reporting name for the Soviet/Russian Kamov Ka-25 military helicopter. ... For the band, see Saliva (band). ...

Like all bee tongues, the bumblebee tongue (the proboscis) is composed of many different mouthparts acting as a unit, specialised to suck up nectar via capillary action. At rest or when flying the proboscis is kept folded under the head. The abdomen is covered with dorsal tergites and ventral sternites. Wax is secreted from glands on the sternites. The abdomen in a human and an ant. ... A tergum (pl. ... The sternum (pl. ... Human submaxillary gland. ...

The brightly-coloured pile of the bumble bee is a form of aposematic signal. Depending on the species and morph, these colours can range from entirely black, to bright yellow, red, orange, white, and pink. Thick pile can also act as insulation to keep the bee warm in cold weather. Further, when flying a bee builds up an electrostatic charge, and as flowers are usually well grounded, pollen is attracted to the bee's pile when it lands. When a pollen covered bee enters a flower, the charged pollen is preferentially attracted to the stigma because it is better grounded than the other parts of the flower. Look up Pile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The bright colours of this Yellow-winged Darter dragonfly serve as a warning to predators of its noxious taste. ... Morph could relate to the following : Morph, an animated plasticine character often featured in Tony Harts television programmes. ... Amaryllis style and stigmas A carpel is the outer, often visible part of the female reproductive organ of a flower; the basic unit of the gynoecium. ...

A bumblebee does not have ears, and it is not known whether or how a bumblebee can hear sound waves passing through the air, however they can feel the vibrations of sounds through wood and other materials.

Habitat

Bumblebees are typically found in higher latitudes and/or high altitudes, though exceptions exist (there are a few lowland tropical species)^[2]. A few species (Bombus polaris and B. alpinus) range into very cold climates where other bees might not be found; B. polaris can be found in northern Ellesmere Island - the northernmost occurrence of any eusocial insect - along with its parasite, B. hyperboreus.^[3] One reason for this is that bumblebees can regulate their body temperature, via solar radiation, internal mechanisms of "shivering" and radiative cooling from the abdomen (called heterothermy). Other bees have similar physiology, but it has been best studied in bumblebees.^[4] This article is about the geographical term. ... Altitude is the elevation of an object from a known level or datum. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. ... Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialisation found in some species of animal, whereby a specialised caste carries out reproduction in a colony of non-reproductive animals. ... Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when temperature surrounding is very different. ... Solar irradiance spectrum at top of atmosphere. ... Greek: hetero = other thermy = heat. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Nests

Bumblebees form colonies. However, their colonies are usually much less extensive than those of honey bees. This is due to a number of factors including: the small physical size of the nest cavity, the fact that a single female is responsible for the initial construction and reproduction that happens within the nest, and the restriction of the colony to a single season (in most species). Often, mature bumblebee nests will hold fewer than 50 individuals, and may be within tunnels in the ground made by other animals, or in tussock grass. Bumblebees sometimes construct a wax canopy ("involucrum") over top of their nest for protection and insulation. Bumblebees mostly do not preserve their nests through the winter, though some tropical species live in their nests for several years (and their colonies can grow quite large, depending on the size of the nest cavity). The last generation of summer includes a number of queens who overwinter separately in protected spots. The queens can live up to one year, possibly longer in tropical species. This article refers to a colony in politics and history. ... Tusock grass can be any tall strong growing grass; one that grows in thick clumps or tussocks. ... For the Queen bee in clique & social groups, see Clique Peanut-like queen brood cells extend outward and downward from the broodcomb. ... To overwinter is to pass through or wait out the winter season, or to pass through that period of the year when â€œwinterâ€ conditions (cold temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal activity or survival difficult or impossible. ...

Colony cycle

Bumblebee nests are first constructed by over-wintered queens in the spring (in temperate areas). Upon emerging from hibernation, the queen collects pollen and nectar from flowers and searches for a suitable nest site. The characteristics of the nest site vary among bumble bee species, with some species preferring to nest in underground holes and others in tussock grass or directly on the ground. Once the queen has found a site, she prepares wax pots to store food and wax cells into which eggs are laid. These eggs then hatch into larvae, which cause the wax cells to expand isometrically into a clump of brood cells. Image File history File links Mergefrom. ... This article is about the flying insect. ... This article refers to the process of hibernation in biology. ... Larvae are the plural of larva, juvenile form of animals with indirect development. ...

These larvae need to be fed both nectar for carbohydrates and pollen for protein in order to develop. Bumblebees feed larvae nectar by chewing a small hole in the brood cell into which nectar is regurgitated. Larvae are fed pollen in two ways, depending on the bumblebee species. So called "pocket-maker" bumblebees create pockets of pollen at the base of the brood cell clump from which the larvae can feed themselves. Conversely, "pollen-storer" store pollen in separate wax pots and feed it to the larva in the same fashion as nectar.^[5] Bumble bees are incapable of trophallaxis. Carbohydrates (literally hydrates of carbon) are chemical compounds that act as the primary biological means of storing or consuming energy, other forms being fat and protein. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin showing coloured alpha helices. ... Trophallaxis is the regurgitation of food by one animal for another. ...

With proper care, the larvae progress through four instars, becoming successively larger with each molt. At the end of the fourth instar the larvae spin a silk cocoon under the wax covering the brood cell, changing it into a pupal cell. The larvae then undergo an intense period of cellular growth and differentiation and become pupae. These pupae then develop into adult bees, who chew their way out of the silk cocoon. When adult bumble bees first emerge from their cocoons, the hairs on their body are not yet fully pigmented and are a greyish-white colour. The bees are referred to as "callow" during this time, and they will not leave the colony for at least 24 hours. The entire process from egg to adult bee can take as long as five weeks, depending on the species and the environmental conditions. An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt. ... Chrysalis of Gulf Fritillary Georgetown, South Carolina A pupa (plural: pupae or pupas) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. ...

After the emergence of the first or second group of workers, workers take over the task of foraging and the queen spends most of her time laying eggs and caring for larvae. The colony grows progressively larger and at some point will begin to produce males and new queens. The point at which this occurs varies among species and is heavily dependant on resource availability and environmental factors. Unlike the workers of more advanced social insects, bumble bee workers are not physically reproductively sterile and are able to lay haploid eggs that develop into viable male bumble bees. Only fertilized queens can lay diploid eggs that mature into workers and new queens. Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialisation found in some species of animal, whereby a specialised caste carries out reproduction in a colony of non-reproductive animals. ... Haploid (meaning simple in Greek) cells have only one copy of each chromosome. ... Diploid (meaning double in Greek) cells have two copies (homologs) of each chromosome (both sex- and non-sex determining chromosomes), usually one from the mother and one from the father. ...

Early in the colony cycle, the queen bumble bee compensates for potential reproductive competition from workers by suppressing their egg-laying by way of physical aggression and pheromonal signals.^[6] Thus, the queen will usually be the mother of all of the first males laid. Workers eventually begin to lay males later in the season when the queen's ability to suppress their reproduction diminishes.^[7] The reproductive competition between workers and the queen is one reason that bumble bees are considered "primitively eusocial". Trees in this Bangladesh forest are in competition for light. ... Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialisation found in some species of animal, whereby a specialised caste carries out reproduction in a colony of non-reproductive animals. ...

New queens and males leave the colony after maturation. Males in particular are forcibly driven out by the workers. Away from the colony, the new queens and males live off nectar and pollen and spend the night on flowers or in holes. The queens are eventually mated (often more than once) and search a for suitable location for diapause. Diapause is a physiological state of dormancy with very specific triggering and releasing conditions; there are various definitions and contexts in which the term is used, but its most common application is in arthropods, especially insects. ...

Foraging behavior

Bumblebees generally visit flowers exhibiting the bee pollination syndrome. They can visit patches of flowers up to 1-2 kilometres from their colony.^[8] Bumblebees will also tend to visit the same patches of flowers every day, as long as nectar and pollen continue to be available.^[9] While foraging, bumblebees can reach ground speeds of up to 15 m/s (54 km/h).^[10] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 496 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 496 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 778 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (2126 Ã— 1638 pixel, file size: 894 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 778 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (2126 Ã— 1638 pixel, file size: 894 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Baltimore (Euphydryas phaeton) nectaring at daisy(Agryanthemum) Pollination syndromes are suites of traits of flowers aimed at attracting a particular type of pollinator (Faegri & van der Pijl, 1979; Proctor et al. ...

When bumblebees arrive at a flower, they extract nectar using their long tongue ("glossa") and store it in their crop. Many species of bumblebee also exhibit what is known as "nectar robbing": instead of inserting the mouthparts into the flower normally, these bees bite directly through the base of the corolla to extract nectar, avoiding pollen transfer.^[11] These bees obtain pollen from other species of flowers that they "legitimately" visit. Glossa may refer to several things: glossa (Î³Î»ÏŽÏƒÏƒÎ±), a Greek word meaning tongue and is used in several English words including gloss, glossary, glossitis, etc. ... A crop is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to digestion that is found in many animals, including gastropods, earthworms[1], leeches[2], insects, birds and clowns. ...

Pollen is removed from flowers deliberately or incidentally by bumblebees. Incidental removal occurs when bumblebees come in contact with the anthers of a flower while collecting nectar. The bumblebee's body hairs receive a dusting of pollen from the anthers which is then groomed into the corbiculae ("pollen baskets"). Bumblebees are also capable of buzz pollination. Flower of the spider tree (Crateva religiosa) with its numerous conspicuous stamens The stamen is the male organ of a flower. ... Species See text. ... Some flowers are pollinated using buzz pollination. ...

In at least a few species, once a bumblebee has visited a flower, it leaves a scent mark on the flower. This scent mark deters visitation of the flower by other bumblebees until the scent degrades.^[12]. It has been shown that this scent mark is a general chemical bouquet that bumblebees leave behind in different locations (e.g. nest, neutral and food sites)^[13], and they learn to use this bouquet to identify both rewarding and unrewarding flowers^[14]. In addition, bumblebees rely on this chemical bouquet more when the flower has a high handling time (i.e. it takes a longer time for the bee to find the nectar)^[15].

Once they have collected nectar and pollen, bumblebees return to the nest and deposit the harvested nectar and pollen into brood cells, or into wax cells for storage. Unlike honey bees, bumblebees only store a few days' worth of food and so are much more vulnerable to food shortages^{[citation needed]}. However, because bumblebees are much more opportunistic feeders than honey bees, these shortages may have less profound effects^{[citation needed]}. Nectar is stored essentially in the form it was collected, rather than being processed into honey as is done in honey bees; it is therefore very dilute and watery, and is rarely consumed by humans^{[citation needed]}. candle wax This page is about the substance. ... For other uses, see Honey (disambiguation). ... The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. ...

"Cuckoo" bumblebees

Bumblebees of the subgenus Psithyrus (known as cuckoo bumblebees, and formerly considered a separate genus) are a lineage which has lost the ability to collect pollen, and live parasitically in the colonies of other bumblebees. Before finding and invading a host colony, a Psithyrus female (there is no caste system in these species) will feed directly from flowers. Once she has infiltrated a host colony, the Psithyrus female will kill or subdue the queen of that colony and forcibly (using pheromones and/or physical attacks) "enslave" the workers of that colony to feed her and her young.^[16] The female Psithyrus also has a number of morphological adaptations, such as larger mandibles and a larger venom sac that increase her chances of taking over a nest.^[17] Upon hatching, the male and female Psithyrus disperse and mate. Like non-parasitic bumblebee queens, female Psithyrus find suitable locations to spend the winter and enter diapause upon being mated. Species see text Cuckoo bumblebees are members of the subgenus Psithyrus in the bumblebee genus Bombus. ... Species see text Cuckoo bumblebees are members of the subgenus Psithyrus in the bumblebee genus Bombus. ... This article is about a relationship between organisms. ... Fanning honeybee exposes Nasonov gland (white-at tip of abdomen) releasing pheromone to entice swarm into an empty hive A pheromone (from Greek Ï†ÎÏÏ‰ phero to bear + â€˜Î¿ÏÎ¼ÏŒÎ½Î· hormone) is a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the same species. ...

Reproduction

In temperate zone species, in the autumn, young queens ("gynes") mate with males (drones) and diapause during the winter in a sheltered area, whether in the ground or in a man-made structure. In the early spring, the queen comes out of diapause and finds a suitable place to create her colony, and then builds wax cells in which to lay her fertilized eggs from the previous winter. The eggs that hatch develop into female workers, and in time the queen populates the colony, with workers feeding the young and performing other duties similar to honey bee workers. New reproductives are produced in autumn, and the queen and workers die, as do the males. In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... Gyne is the reproductive female caste of social insects (especially ants and bees). ... Mate may refer to: Relationships: Mate (term), a term for a friend, especially in the United Kingdom and Australasia; also used to address strangers One of a pair of animals, sometimes also applied to a human partner; see mating Nautical: A deck officer on a merchant marine vessel, usually ranked... Drone Drones are male honey bees. ... Diapause is a physiological state of dormancy with very specific triggering and releasing conditions; there are various definitions and contexts in which the term is used, but its most common application is in arthropods, especially insects. ... candle wax This page is about the substance. ...

Sting

Queen and worker bumblebees can sting, but, like virtually all bees, the sting is not barbed (only honey bees have a barbed sting), so they can sting more than once.^[18] Bumblebee species are non-aggressive, but will sting in defense of their nest, or if harmed. Female cuckoo bumblebees will aggressively attack host colony members, and sting the host queen, but will ignore other animals (including humans) unless disturbed. See Schmidt Sting Pain Index. For other uses, see Bee sting (disambiguation). ... The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. ... Schmidt Sting Pain Index or The Justin O. Schmidt Pain Index was created by Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist. ...

Bumblebees and people

Bumblebees are important pollinators of both crops and wildflowers. Image File history File links Foto af humlebi i solsikke. ... Image File history File links Foto af humlebi i solsikke. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... For other uses, see Sunflower (disambiguation). ... A pollinator is the agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain. ... For other uses, see crop (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Wildflower (disambiguation). ...

Agricultural use

Bumblebees are increasingly cultured for agricultural use as pollinators because they can pollinate plant species that other pollinators cannot by using a technique known as buzz pollination. For example, bumblebee colonies are often emplaced in greenhouse tomato production, because the frequency of buzzing that a bumblebee exhibits effectively releases tomato pollen.^[19] Pollination by insects is called entomophily. ... Some flowers are pollinated using buzz pollination. ... The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken. ... For other uses, see Tomato (disambiguation). ...

The agricultural use of bumblebees is limited to pollination. Because bumblebees do not overwinter the entire colony, they are not obliged to stockpile honey, and are therefore not useful as honey producers. Carpenter bee with pollen collected from Night-blooming cereus Pollination is an important step in the reproduction of seed plants: the transfer of pollen grains (containing the male gametes, sperm) to the plant carpel of flowering plants, the structure that contains the ovule (which in turn houses the female gamete...

Endangered status

Bumblebees are in danger in many developed countries due to habitat destruction and collateral pesticide damage. In Britain, until relatively recently, 19 species of native true bumblebee were recognised along with six species of cuckoo bumblebees. Of these, three have already become extinct,^[20]^[21] eight are in serious decline and only six remain widespread^[22]. A decline in bumblebee numbers could cause large-scale sweeping changes to the countryside, leading to inadequate pollination of certain plants. Habitat destruction is a process of land use change in which one habitat-type is removed and replaced with another habitat-type. ... A cropduster spreading pesticide. ... For other uses, see Extinction (disambiguation). ... Pollinator decline is based on observations made at the end of the twentieth century of the reduction in abundance of pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide. ...

In response to this, a new organisation has recently been set up - The Bumblebee Conservation Trust aims to halt these declines through conservation and education (see links). To conserve habitat for wild species and prevent their extinction or reduction in range is a priority of a great many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology. ...

Bumblebee myths

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 522 pixel Image in higher resolution (920 Ã— 600 pixel, file size: 427 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Quelle: selbst fotografiert Fotograf: Christian Stamm (Schizoschaf) Lizenzstatus: GNU FDL from de. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 522 pixel Image in higher resolution (920 Ã— 600 pixel, file size: 427 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Quelle: selbst fotografiert Fotograf: Christian Stamm (Schizoschaf) Lizenzstatus: GNU FDL from de. ... Binomial name Bombus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebee or large earth bumblebee is a social bumblebee and one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe. ...

Flight

According to 20th century folklore, the laws of aerodynamics prove that the bumblebee should be incapable of flight, as it does not have the capacity (in terms of wing size or beat per second) to achieve flight with the degree of wing loading necessary. Not being aware of scientists 'proving' it cannot fly, the bumblebee succeeds under "the power of its own arrogance".^[23] The origin of this myth has been difficult to pin down with any certainty. John McMasters recounted an anecdote about an unnamed Swiss aerodynamicist at a dinner party who performed some rough calculations and concluded, presumably in jest, that according to the equations, bumblebees cannot fly.^[24] In later years McMasters has backed away from this origin, suggesting that there could be multiple sources, and that the earliest he has found was a reference in the 1934 French book Le vol des insectes by M. Magnan. Magnan is reported to have written that he and a Mr. Saint-Lague had applied the equations of air resistance to insects and found that their flight was impossible, but that "One shouldn't be surprised that the results of the calculations don't square with reality".^[25] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the Daft Punk song, see Aerodynamic (song). ... For other uses, see Flight (disambiguation). ... In aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing. ... For other uses, see Myth (disambiguation). ... AndrÃ© Sainte-LaguÃ« (April 20, 1882 â€“ January 18, 1950) was a French mathematician who was a pioneer in the area of graph theory. ... For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow. ...

It is believed that the calculations which purported to show that bumblebees cannot fly are based upon a simplified linear treatment of oscillating aerofoils. The method assumes small amplitude oscillations without flow separation. This ignores the effect of dynamic stall, an airflow separation inducing a large vortex above the wing, which briefly produces several times the lift of the aerofoil in regular flight. More sophisticated aerodynamic analysis shows that the bumblebee can fly because its wings encounter dynamic stall in every oscillation cycle. ^[26] An airfoil (or aerofoil in British English) is a specially shaped cross-section of a wing or blade, used to provide lift or downforce, depending on its application. ... Dynamic stall is a non-linear unsteady aerodynamic effect that occurs when aerofoils rapidly change the angle of attack. ... Vortex created by the passage of an aircraft wing, revealed by coloured smoke A vortex (pl. ... Oscillation is the variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. ... Cycle or Cycles may be: Look up cycle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Buzz

One common, yet incorrect, assumption is that the buzzing sound of bees is caused by the beating of their wings. The sound is the result of the bee vibrating its flight muscles, and this can be done while the muscles are decoupled from the wings, a feature known in bees but not possessed by other insects. This is especially pronounced in bumblebees, as they must warm up their bodies considerably to get airborne at low ambient temperatures.^[4] This is how bumblebees can sometimes reach an internal thoracic temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Look up buzz in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses of Muscles, see Muscles (disambiguation). ...

Selected species

For a complete list, see List of world bumblebee species. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 749 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (1352 Ã— 1082 pixel, file size: 685 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 749 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (1352 Ã— 1082 pixel, file size: 685 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The list presented here is derived from the most recent Bombus phylogeny. ...

Binomial name Bombus fraternus (Smith, 1854) Bombus fraternus is a species of bumblebee native to the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1761) The Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) is black, with a yellow band around the front of the thorax and red colouration on abdominal segments 4 to 6. ... Binomial name Bombus ternarius Say, 1837 The orange-belted bumblebee (Bombus ternarius) is a yellow, orange and black bumblebee commonly found throughout the United States and parts of Canada. ... Binomial name Bombus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebee or large earth bumblebee is a social bumblebee and one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe. ...

Associated parasites

Locustacarus buchneri is a parasitic mite that lives in the respiratory air sacs of bumble bees. ... Protozoa (in Greek protos = first and zoon = animal) are single-celled creatures with nuclei that show some characteristics usually associated with animals, most notably mobility and heterotrophy. ... Crithidia is a genus of parasites that exist primarily in the intestines of invertebrates. ... Subclasses Dihaplophasea Haplophasea Microsporidia are parasites of animals, now considered to be extremely reduced fungi. ...

In popular culture

For other uses, see Devon (disambiguation). ... Joanne Rowling OBE (born July 31, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire), commonly known as J.K. Rowling (pronunciation: roll-ing; her former students used to joke with her name calling her the Rolling Stone), is a British fiction writer. ... Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character within the Harry Potter series written by British author J. K. Rowling. ... Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a setting in J. K. Rowlings best-selling Harry Potter series. ... This article is about the country. ... Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov is considered a sign of mastery of the violin. ... For other uses, see Orchestra (disambiguation). ... An interlude (between play) is: Look up Interlude in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj AndreeviÄ Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6 (N.S. March 18), 1844 â€“ June 8 (N.S. June 21) 1908) was a Russian composer, one of five Russian composers known as The Five, and was later a... For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ... The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Ð¡ÐºÐ°Ð·ÐºÐ° Ð¾ Ñ†Ð°Ñ€Ðµ Ð¡Ð°Ð»Ñ‚Ð°Ð½Ðµ in Russian, Skazka o care Saltane in transliteration) is an opera in four acts (six tableaux) with a prologue, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to a Russian libretto by Vladimir Ivanovich Belsky, based on the poem of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Bumblebee is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. ... Transformers are fictional alien robots and the titular characters of a popular[1] Hasbro toy line and its spin-offs. ... Bumblebee Man is a fictional character in the animated television show The Simpsons. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... The El ChapulÃn Colorado DVD cover El ChapulÃn Colorado is a television series, created and played by Chespirito a successful Mexican comedian, which parodied superhero shows. ... For other uses, see Grasshopper (disambiguation). ... Buck Bumble is an action video game for the Nintendo 64 released by Ubisoft in 1998. ... The Nintendo 64, often abbreviated as N64, is Nintendos third home video game console for the international market. ...

Contents

Biology

Habitat

Nests

Colony cycle

Foraging behavior

"Cuckoo" bumblebees

Reproduction

Sting

Bumblebees and people

Agricultural use

Endangered status

Bumblebee myths

Flight

Buzz

Selected species

Associated parasites

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Contents

Biology GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Habitat

Nests

Colony cycle

Foraging behavior

"Cuckoo" bumblebees

Reproduction

Sting

Bumblebees and people

Agricultural use

Endangered status

Bumblebee myths

Flight

Buzz

Selected species

Associated parasites

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Biology