Bumblebee species catalog – Rock bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

A male and a worker bee on a beehive. This male repeatedly entered the hive "to look for the chicks" and even flew between neighboring hives. So he did not do what other males do, which is to leave the nest and wait for his mother somewhere outside.

This worker bumblebee is not quite typical.
Its colors are not so bright. But this may be due to its age.
It might seem that it is a bumblebee (Bombus ruderarius). However, it is smaller and more stocky. Its back is not bright red-orange, but rather has elements of yellow. At the same time, it has reddish eyebrows on its legs, thanks to which it is possible to distinguish it from the bumblebee, which lacks such accessories.

Bumblebees are born as grey and colourless individuals. However, their eyebrows quickly turn into their ancestral colours or their varieties when exposed to air. However, they lose their colour over time.

This is very striking in dark colors, for example in male rock bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius).  

The result can be such a "variety". But it is only an aging individual, whose colored elements turn gray and then practically disappear (yellow elements on the head and forechest). This can surprise many people - they may think that they have found a new individual.

This male was filmed in Prague in early August, which confirms this characteristic of colors and their change.