Yellow-banded Bumble Bee

Yellow-banded bumble bee (credit: Leif Richardson)
Yellow-banded Bumble Bee
Bombus terricola
NWT List of Species at Risk: 
No status
NWT SARC Assessment: 
Not At Risk
Federal Species at Risk Act list: 
Special Concern
COSEWIC Assessment: 
Special Concern
NWT General Status Rank: 
Sensitive
Description: 

Yellow-banded Bumble Bee is a medium-sized bumble bee with a short head. It has yellow hair on the second and third segments of the abdomen, as well as a band of yellow hair across the thorax in front of the base of the wings. The rest of its body is primarily black, except for a fringe of brownish-yellow hairs on the fifth segment of the abdomen.

Length: Female queens, 1.9 to 2.1 cm (0.75 to 0.83 in); Female workers, 1.0 to 1.5 cm (0.39 to 0.59 in); Males, 1.3 to 1.5 cm (0.51 to 0.59 in)

Report Yellow-banded Bumble Bee sightings to WILDLIFEOBS@gov.nt.ca

There are 24 known native bumble bee species in the NWT. Check out the Field Guide to Bumble Bees of the Northwest Territories