Bombus appositus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Bombus appositus is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the white-shouldered bumblebee. It is native to western North America, including western Canada and the western United States. This species lives in open habitat, such as meadows and slopes. It nests underground or on the surface. Males congregate to seek mates. It feeds on a variety of plant taxa, including giant hyssops, thistles, gentians, owl's clovers, locoweeds, penstemons, and clovers. It especially favors subalpine larkspur (Delphinium barbeyi) and it serves as one of the plant's main pollinators.
This species has a range from southwestern Canada south to the Cascade Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, and west to central California. This species is a host to Bombus insularis, a species of cuckoo bumblebee. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-Shouldered Bumble Bee sighting in Denver on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 256th most-seen of the 461 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-Shouldered Bumble Bee in Denver on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-Shouldered 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.
Only Denver, in our data
Denver is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate White-Shouldered Bumble Bee sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the White-Shouldered Bumble Bee that you can see in Denver (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Hunt's Bumble Bee (about 20%), Golden Northern Bumble Bee (about 20%) and Brown-Belted Bumble Bee (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-Shouldered Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Denver (11 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.
