Bombus vestalis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Bombus vestalis, the vestal cuckoo bumblebee, is a species of cuckoo bumblebee that lives in most of Europe, as well as North Africa and western Asia. It is a brood parasite that takes over the nests of other bee species. Its primary host is Bombus terrestris (the buff-tailed bumblebee). After its initial classification as Psithyrus vestalis, this bumblebee was recently reclassified into the genus Bombus, subgenus Psithyrus.
The queen is a large bumblebee with a length up to 21 mm (0.83 in) and a wingspan of 37 mm (1.5 in); the male is considerably smaller (16 mm (0.63 in)). The bumblebee is predominantly black, with an orange collar. The third tergite has a border of yellow hairs, and the hairs on the fifth tergite are mostly white. The males are similar to the females, but smaller and with longer antennae.
It is similar in appearance to another cuckoo bumblebee, Bombus bohemicus, but is distinguishable by either the length of the antennal segments or dissection and comparison of the genitalia. In Bombus vestalis, the fifth antennal segment will be the same length as the third and fourth together.
A key characteristic of Bombus vestalis is the lack of corbiculae or... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Vestal Cuckoo Bumble Bee sighting in London on a given day, based on 89 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 335th most-seen of the 1504 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.
February–July and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Vestal Cuckoo Bumble Bee in London on a given day, against under 5% in August and October–January, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Vestal Cuckoo 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 18 cities where we can rate Vestal Cuckoo Bumble Bee sightings, London ranks 5th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Warsaw (Poland, about 10%), Kharkiv (Ukraine, about 10%) and Berlin (Germany, about 10%).
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the Vestal Cuckoo Bumble Bee that you can see in London (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Common Carder Bumble Bee (about 40%), Buff-Tailed Bumble Bee (about 30%) and Early Bumble Bee (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Vestal Cuckoo Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in London (89 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.
