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Gypsy cuckoo bee

Bombus bohemicus

Basic Information

Common name: Gypsy cuckoo bee
Scientific name: Bombus bohemicus

Visible chitin, white tail with yellow trim.

In north and west of UK in heaths and moors.

Classification

Bee TypeBumblebee
StatusLess Common
Cuckoo StatusCuckoo
DistributionWidespread
Tail ColourWhite Tail

Keynotes

  • Boxy head, dark wings, visible chitin

  • White tail has yellow trim on the sides

  • Looks like a Southern cuckoo but with longer hair and central black 'V' in tail

  • Males have yellow band at front of abdomen and are smaller than females

Nest Information

  • Uses nests of White-tailed bumblebees (agg.)

  • 1 cycle per year

  • Usually gone by September

  • Numbers unknown

Distribution

  • Less common; but widespread across north and west of UK

  • Declining in South and East England

  • Habitat: heathland, moorland and uplands

Castes

MALE

June
No Diagram
No Photo

  1. Boxy, black

  2. Collar, rear

  3. Front

  4. White tail, yellow trim

Tail:White with yellow trim, White Tail
Thorax:Yellow collar and rear band
Abdomen:Front Band / White Tail
Head:Black Head, Boxy

FEMALE

April
No Diagram
No Photo

  1. Boxy, black

  2. Collar, rear

  3. Black

  4. White - yellow trim

Tail:White with yellow trim, White Tail
Thorax:Yellow collar and rear band, Yellow Collar
Abdomen:Black / White Tail
Head:Black Head, Boxy

Flower Preferences

Short tongue. Likes thistles and brambles.

  • Bilberry

  • Bugle

  • Dandelion

  • Heathers

  • Knapweed

  • Raspberry

  • Scabious

  • Teasel

  • Umbellifers

🌼

Brambles

Dandelion

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Thistle

Thistle

Cirsium