The Bumblebee

David R. Brooks

Dr. David R. Brooks of Drexel University captured the accompanying images of bumblebees visiting flowers at his rural Pennsylvania home.

The single dark spot on the back of the thorax of the bee in Fig. 2 suggests that these specimens are representatives of the genus Bombus. (See the identification guide here).

Queen and drone bumblebees are equipped with a stinger, but they rarely use it against curious people. As Dr. Brooks discovered, this makes the bumblebee a nice subject for close up photography.

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