Bombus lucorum
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Bombus lucorum, the white-tailed bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee, widespread and common throughout Europe. This name has been widely used for a range of nearly identical-looking or cryptic species of bumblebees. In 1983, Scholl and Obrecht even coined the term Bombus lucorum complex to explain the three taxa (B. lucorum, Bombus magnus, and Bombus cryptarum) that cannot be easily differentiated from one another by their appearances. A recent review of all of these species worldwide has helped to clarify its distribution in Europe and northern Asia, almost to the Pacific. B. lucorum reaches the Barents Sea in the North. However, in southern Europe, although found in Greece it is an upland species with its distribution never quite reaching the Mediterranean.
Compared to other bumblebee species, the individuals of B. lucorum have shorter tongues, and this characteristic enable them to rob nectar. The worker bee uses the horny sheath around its tongue to make a hole through the flower, reaching the nectar without entering the flower. Therefore, the worker bee does not come in contact with the pollen while getting the nectar.
Bombus lucorum is part of the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vatnajokull National Park | 🇮🇸 Iceland | |
| 2 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 5 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
No species of the same family or order lives in Vatnajokull National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other insects.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-Tailed Bumble Bee sighting in Vatnajokull National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-Tailed Bumble Bee in Vatnajokull National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-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.
Yes
Of the 9 parks where we can rate White-Tailed Bumble Bee sightings, Vatnajokull National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Tatra National Park (Slovakia, about 10%) and Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-Tailed Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Vatnajokull National Park (7 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.
