Bombus lapidarius
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Bombus lapidarius is a species of bumblebee in the subgenus Melanobombus. Commonly known as the red-tailed bumblebee, B. lapidarius can be found throughout much of Central Europe. Known for its distinctive black and red body, this social bee is important in pollination.
The red-tailed bumblebee is a part of the order Hymenoptera, family Apidae, and the genus Bombus, which includes many species including Bombus terrestris, Bombus lucorum, and Bombus hypnorum. The red-tailed bumblebee is typically distinguished by its black body with red markings around the abdomen. Worker females and the queen look similar, though the queen is much larger than the worker females. Males typically have the red and black coloration with a yellow band around the abdomen and yellow markings on the face. Further, B. lapidarius tend to have a medium-sized proboscis, which is significant in that it allows the species to be a good pollinator. These bees do not typically form extensive or complex colonies. Nests usually only contain a few hundred bees at most, with an average colony consisting of about 100 to 200 worker bees. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 4 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 5 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 8 | Kharkiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 9 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee sighting in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 182nd most-seen of the 1115 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-Tailed 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.
2nd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Red-Tailed Bumble Bee sightings, Bavarian Forest National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 20%).
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the Red-Tailed 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 White-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 Red-Tailed Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Bavarian Forest National Park (25 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.
