Red-Tailed Bumble Bee

Red-Tailed Bumble Bee

Bombus lapidarius

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Wadden Sea National Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%

29 Verified sightings at Wadden Sea National Park From 2019 to 2026
109 In all 5 parks
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 Wadden Sea National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee sighting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 191st most-seen of the 818 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.

When is the best time to see a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee in Wadden Sea National Park?

April to August

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to March, 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 Wadden Sea National Park the best place to see a Red-Tailed Bumble Bee?

4th of 5

Of the 5 parks where we can rate Red-Tailed Bumble Bee sightings, Wadden Sea National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 20%), Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%) and Triglav National Park (Slovenia, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee live in Wadden Sea National Park?

Same genus: Bombus

The closest relatives of the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee that you can see in Wadden Sea National Park (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Common Carder Bumble Bee (about 10%), Moss Carder Bee (about 10%) and Tree 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 Wadden Sea National Park (29 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.

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