Today’s photo is essentially a reprise of yesterday’s, but with less water and more bee.
The bee is a male Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), which is demonstrated by his unique colouring. Male Red-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius) are also yellow, black and red, but both the yellow collar and the red tail would be more extensive than they are here, and any yellow in the mid-section is confined to a small belt at the end of the thorax; they’re are also larger and tidier than this. Male Bilberry Bumblebees (Bombus monticola), on the other hand, are smaller, but have even more red on the abdomen, and again, only a hint of yellow around the waist; they’re also confined to acid heathland and moorland, especially in Scotland and Wales, and would be very unusual in soggy, alkaline Worcestershire.
R: C1 D8.
