Bombus humilis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The brown-banded carder bee (Bombus humilis) is a bumblebee found in most of Europe west of Russia, with the exception of Ireland and Iceland. It is also found in Turkey, on the Tibetan plateau, northern China, eastern and southern Mongolia, and parts of North Korea. In Britain, it is limited to the coast and chalkland areas of southern England, though the species has also been found in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The brown-banded carder bee is similar in appearance to the moss carder bee. As they share similar habitats, care must be taken to distinguish between the two.
The brown-banded carder bee is medium-sized with a relatively long tongue. The queen is 16–18 mm (0.63–0.71 in) long, the worker 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in). The thorax is usually yellow-orange on top, with beige flanks, but may be dark brown. Most of the abdomen is beige, too, although with a somewhat striped effect. Both queens (the reproductive females) and workers usually have a broad, dark brown band (hence the common name) on the upper side of the abdomen, near the front, although it can be missing on some workers. A few black hairs - may only be one or two – are present on the thorax near... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-Banded Carder-Bumble Bee sighting in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 288th most-seen of the 1115 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-Banded Carder-Bumble Bee in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-Banded Carder-Bumble Bee sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Brown-Banded Carder-Bumble Bee sightings, Bavarian Forest National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria, about 10%).
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the Brown-Banded Carder-Bumble Bee that you can see in Bavarian Forest National Park (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Common Carder Bumble Bee (about 20%), Early Bumble Bee (about 10%) and Red-Tailed Bumble Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-Banded Carder-Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Bavarian Forest National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
