McKay's Bumble Bee

McKay's Bumble Bee credit Rehanon Pampell
McKay's Bumble Bee
formerly Western Bumble Bee, mckayi subspecies
Bombus mckayi
NWT List of Species at Risk: 
No status
NWT SARC Assessment: 
Data Deficient
Federal Species at Risk Act list: 
Under Consideration
COSEWIC Assessment: 
Special Concern
NWT General Status Rank: 
Sensitive
Description: 

McKay's Bumble Bee is a medium-sized bumble bee. It has a short head and a band of yellow hair across the thorax in front of the base of the wings. Between the wings there is a black band or a large black central spot. The tip of the abdomen is almost always white. This northern species has longer hair overall and yellow hair behind the wings and on the third segment of the abdomen, which help to tell it apart from the Western Bumble Bee.

Length: Female queens, 1.6 to 1.9 cm (0.63 to 0.75 in); Female workers, 1.1 to 1.3 cm (0.43 to 0.51 in); Males, 1.0 to 2.0 cm (0.39 to 0.79 in)

Report McKay's Bumble Bee sightings to WILDLIFEOBS@gov.nt.ca

Check out the Field Guide to Bumble Bees of the Northwest Territories