Identification Help
Posted: October 13th, 2016, 9:11 am
First, let me say that I am by no means a bee expert. Because of this, I thought it best to ask people who are, hence I am here.
A few days ago, the biggest, reddest and furiest bee I have ever seen in my life made it's way down the exhaust above my stove and entered the house, eventually becoming trapped behind my blinds and tangled in spider web. It stayed there for 2 days, but I was eventually able to capture it between a paper plate and some clear Tupperware. Since I had my hands full, I was unable to take a picture of it, however, after helping it free itself from a ball of spider web, I was able to study it closely in good lighting. The thing was at approximately 1 3/4 inches long, rust colored with light banding, black legs and wings.
I did quite a bit of searching on-line to find out what kind of bee it was, and I eventually found an exact match. It appears to have been a Bombus Dahlbomii. It looked exactly like this:
http://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmhgc ... o1_400.jpg
But this species is native to the extreme southwestern forests of Chile, and lacks the natural ability to migrate anywhere close to where I live (Simi Valley, CA). I have no idea how it might have gotten here. The romantic in me likes to think it hopped a freighter. It wouldn't be the first "long distance traveller" of the insect kingdom I have seen here. We have bark beetles from China, brown widow spiders from Africa (there were none in the US as of 2010, but they are now taking over the black widow. Oh, and they play dead!). My guess is that a small hive of this massive bee hitched a ride somehow, and made it here.
My question is this. Are there other bee species that look exactly like this one? Not close to it, but exactly like it. If not, this is amazing to me, and very good for life on Earth. I was able to capture and release it without harming it. It was literally last seen flying off into the sunset. If it is indeed a Bombus Dahlbomii, it would face much less competition from local bee species, as it is one of the few that can see and pollinate red flowers. And this one at 1 3/4 inches has the potential to become a queen if it was female. The species in in the "red alert" endangered category, meaning it is one the brink of extinction. I would love to see it prosper here.
Anyway, if anyone knows of another bee species that looks exactly like this, please let me know. If this is the only one that does, then it is a fantastic find, and there is hope for the species assuming it can adapt to this climate. If I had known how rare it was, I would have tried to get a picture, but who knew?
A few days ago, the biggest, reddest and furiest bee I have ever seen in my life made it's way down the exhaust above my stove and entered the house, eventually becoming trapped behind my blinds and tangled in spider web. It stayed there for 2 days, but I was eventually able to capture it between a paper plate and some clear Tupperware. Since I had my hands full, I was unable to take a picture of it, however, after helping it free itself from a ball of spider web, I was able to study it closely in good lighting. The thing was at approximately 1 3/4 inches long, rust colored with light banding, black legs and wings.
I did quite a bit of searching on-line to find out what kind of bee it was, and I eventually found an exact match. It appears to have been a Bombus Dahlbomii. It looked exactly like this:
http://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmhgc ... o1_400.jpg
But this species is native to the extreme southwestern forests of Chile, and lacks the natural ability to migrate anywhere close to where I live (Simi Valley, CA). I have no idea how it might have gotten here. The romantic in me likes to think it hopped a freighter. It wouldn't be the first "long distance traveller" of the insect kingdom I have seen here. We have bark beetles from China, brown widow spiders from Africa (there were none in the US as of 2010, but they are now taking over the black widow. Oh, and they play dead!). My guess is that a small hive of this massive bee hitched a ride somehow, and made it here.
My question is this. Are there other bee species that look exactly like this one? Not close to it, but exactly like it. If not, this is amazing to me, and very good for life on Earth. I was able to capture and release it without harming it. It was literally last seen flying off into the sunset. If it is indeed a Bombus Dahlbomii, it would face much less competition from local bee species, as it is one of the few that can see and pollinate red flowers. And this one at 1 3/4 inches has the potential to become a queen if it was female. The species in in the "red alert" endangered category, meaning it is one the brink of extinction. I would love to see it prosper here.
Anyway, if anyone knows of another bee species that looks exactly like this, please let me know. If this is the only one that does, then it is a fantastic find, and there is hope for the species assuming it can adapt to this climate. If I had known how rare it was, I would have tried to get a picture, but who knew?