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TranslateBombus sylvestris
Bombus sylvestris (Lepeletier, 1832)
Common name: Forest Cuckoo Bee.
Family: Apidae.
Length: Queen: 15mm, male: 13mm
Flight Season: (In the south) Females, March till September, males April till September.
The Forest Cuckoo Bee is a widespread species of Bumble Bee, found in most of Europe and the far east across Russia. It will always be close to its three prime hosts being, Bombus monticola, Bombus pratorum and Bombus jonellus.
Being a “Cuckoo Bee,” B. sylvestris females, lay their eggs in other bumble bees nests. The host Bumble bee workers will raise the young as if their own, unfortunately, to the cost of their own young survival. The cuckoo larvae will eat the resources meant for the hosts larvae and in a short time will dominate the nest with more young cuckoo bees.
B. Sylvestris queen will enter the hosts nests cautiously, (usually when the “hosts” worker bees are less active) if she is detected, then there is a high chance the worker bees will attack and kill the parasitic B. Sylvestris Queen. If she is successful in gaining entry, (she has a higher chance of taking over, in a less established nest containing, just a few worker bees) her main objective would be to kill the host queen, as soon as possible. She will then be able to start laying her eggs, for the workers to rear her larvae. The size of her brood will depend on the numbers of worker bees, if she was able to take over a nest containing many workers, then her brood will be larger. In the southern counties and warmer southern countries, she is able to have two broods a year, in line with the hosts bivoltine practise. The young female bees she produces, are unable to care for the nest, as they do not have pollen baskets; they are also unable to produce wax to seal the larvae cells, so the young female bees are identical to the queen B. sylvestris and unable to rear any worker bees.
Habitat: More associated with deciduous forests, (hence the name “Forest Cuckoo bee”) woodland edges and hedgerows, but overall found in a variety of habitats, such as parks and gardens, especially near to where Bombus Sylvestris hosts are nesting. The young females will eat pollen which helps ovary maturation in mated females.
Will feed from a variety of spring flowery shrubs, tree blossoms and flowers. In the summertime thistles, dead nettles and dandelions are a few favourites amongst other various summertime flowers visited.
Read MoreCommon name: Forest Cuckoo Bee.
Family: Apidae.
Length: Queen: 15mm, male: 13mm
Flight Season: (In the south) Females, March till September, males April till September.
The Forest Cuckoo Bee is a widespread species of Bumble Bee, found in most of Europe and the far east across Russia. It will always be close to its three prime hosts being, Bombus monticola, Bombus pratorum and Bombus jonellus.
Being a “Cuckoo Bee,” B. sylvestris females, lay their eggs in other bumble bees nests. The host Bumble bee workers will raise the young as if their own, unfortunately, to the cost of their own young survival. The cuckoo larvae will eat the resources meant for the hosts larvae and in a short time will dominate the nest with more young cuckoo bees.
B. Sylvestris queen will enter the hosts nests cautiously, (usually when the “hosts” worker bees are less active) if she is detected, then there is a high chance the worker bees will attack and kill the parasitic B. Sylvestris Queen. If she is successful in gaining entry, (she has a higher chance of taking over, in a less established nest containing, just a few worker bees) her main objective would be to kill the host queen, as soon as possible. She will then be able to start laying her eggs, for the workers to rear her larvae. The size of her brood will depend on the numbers of worker bees, if she was able to take over a nest containing many workers, then her brood will be larger. In the southern counties and warmer southern countries, she is able to have two broods a year, in line with the hosts bivoltine practise. The young female bees she produces, are unable to care for the nest, as they do not have pollen baskets; they are also unable to produce wax to seal the larvae cells, so the young female bees are identical to the queen B. sylvestris and unable to rear any worker bees.
Habitat: More associated with deciduous forests, (hence the name “Forest Cuckoo bee”) woodland edges and hedgerows, but overall found in a variety of habitats, such as parks and gardens, especially near to where Bombus Sylvestris hosts are nesting. The young females will eat pollen which helps ovary maturation in mated females.
Will feed from a variety of spring flowery shrubs, tree blossoms and flowers. In the summertime thistles, dead nettles and dandelions are a few favourites amongst other various summertime flowers visited.
