Red-Tailed Bumble Bee

Red-Tailed Bumble Bee

Bombus lapidarius

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Copenhagen

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%

103 Verified sightings at Copenhagen
109 In all 5 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee

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 →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Snowdonia National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~20%
2 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~10%
3 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
~10%
4 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~10%
5 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Liverpool 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~40%
2 Manchester 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~30%
3 Birmingham 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~30%
4 Warsaw 🇵🇱 Poland
~20%
5 Leeds 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~20%
6 Berlin 🇩🇪 Germany
~20%
7 Helsinki 🇫🇮 Finland
~20%
8 Kharkiv 🇺🇦 Ukraine
~10%
9 London 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~10%
10 Copenhagen 🇩🇰 Denmark
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee in Copenhagen?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee sighting in Copenhagen on a given day, based on 103 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 34th most-seen of the 476 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee in Copenhagen?

April and June–August

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee in Copenhagen on a given day, against under 5% in November to February, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee?

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.

Is Copenhagen the best place to see a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee?

10th of 29

Of the 29 cities where we can rate Red-Tailed Bumble Bee sightings, Copenhagen ranks 10th at about 10%. The best odds are in Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 40%), Manchester (United Kingdom, about 30%) and Birmingham (United Kingdom, about 30%).

Which relatives of the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee live in Copenhagen?

Same genus: Bombus

The closest relatives of the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee that you can see in Copenhagen (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Common Carder Bumble Bee (about 20%), Tree Bumble Bee (about 20%) and Buff-Tailed Bumble Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Copenhagen (103 verified sightings), 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.

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