List of world bumblebees
A bumblebee, Bombus sp., in the Museum's Wildlife Garden
Bumblebees are familiar and popular insects, but identifying and classifying the different species is complicated. Bombus (list of world bumblebees) is a checklist of all known species that assists experts with this challenge.
Bumblebees are very appealing animals and over the years collectors have amassed vast hoards of specimens. Large, brightly coloured and active during daylight hours, bumblebees are relatively easy to collect, but identifying and classifying the different species is much harder. Many look confusingly similar, while some species change their appearance dramatically during their life cycle. Others have different coloured bodies according to where they live. As a result, many specimens are wrongly named and classified.
The Bombus site aims to solve this problem by providing a comprehensive and reliable checklist for bumblebee experts. The world’s 245 species of bumblebee are listed in three ways: alphabetically, by geographical location, and by grouping similar species together.
The site also provides information on where each species is found, and describes the other species for which they are commonly mistaken.
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In 2003 nearly 12,000 scientists from over 60 countries came to work at the Museum.