These Bumblebee id notes are being regularly updated. It’s mainly a guide for myself so is biased towards species seen in Lancashire where I live.
Bombus terrestris – Buff-tailed
- early emerger and common
- white-tailed (buff in Queen)
- two yellow bands – marmalade or cinder toffee in colour
- large
Bombus lucorum – White-tailed
- complex taxonomy (lucorum, magnus and cryptarum previously lumped as lucorum)
- but magnus and cryptarum not recorded in Lancs (both widespread in Scotland but not nw England)
- white-tailed in all castes
- bright-yellow collar
Bombus hortorum – small garden bumblebee
- white-tailed
- three yellow bands – two adjacent across base of thorax and top of abdomen
- long faced (cf. jonellus which is similar but round faced)
- longest tongued british species
Bombus jonellus – heath bumblebee
- not yet recorded in SD63 or SD73 but recorded in 7 out of 10 adjacent hectads (2021 Atlas)
- small
- white-tailed
- three yellow bands – two adjacent across base of thorax and top of abdomen as in hortorum
Bombus lapidarius – red-tailed bumblebee
- not recorded in SD63 / SD 73 but common to south and west (2021 Atlas)
- red-tail
- all dark body – no banding
Bombus hypnorum
- now commonest bumblebee in Lancashire
- white-tailed
- ginger thorax
- no other similar species. Pascuorum has ginger thorax but banded abdomen on not white-tailed
Additional Sources of Information
BWARS photo guide to id of White/buff-tails by Steven Falk
BWARS photo guide to distinguishing Carder Beeds by Steven Falk
Recognition and identification of species in the Bombus lucorum-complex – A review and outlook