Bombus pensylvanicus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Bombus pensylvanicus, the American bumblebee, is a threatened species of bumblebee native to North America. It occurs in eastern Canada, throughout much of the Eastern United States, and much of Mexico. Once the most prevalent bumblebee in the southern United States, populations of Bombus pensylvanicus have decreased significantly in recent years, including in its scientific namesake state of Pennsylvania, where its numbers are considered critically low. Overall, the population dropped nearly 90% in just the first two decades of the 21st century.
Bombus pensylvanicus tends to live and nest in open farmland and fields. It feeds on several food plants, favoring sunflowers and clovers, and functions as a pollinator. Bombus pensylvanicus belongs to the order Hymenoptera (consisting of ants, wasps, bees, and sawflies), the family Apidae (consisting of cuckoo, digger, carpenter, bumble, and honeybees), the subfamily Apinae (consisting of honey, orchid, bumble, long-horned, and digger bees), and the genus Bombus (consisting of bumblebees). Within Bombus, B. pensylvanicus belongs to the subgenus Thoracobombus, which includes species such as Bombus armeniacus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Bumble Bee sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 447th most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, July and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Bumble Bee in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–June, August and October–March, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American Bumble Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate American Bumble Bee sightings, Shenandoah National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Badlands National Park (United States, about 20%), Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 20%) and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 20%).
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the American Bumble Bee that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Common Eastern Bumble Bee (about 40%), Brown-Belted Bumble Bee (about 20%) and Perplexing Bumble Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (8 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.
