Photo: TimmusLev / CC BY-SA 4.0

Bombus confusus

Confusing Bumblebee

A medium-large bumblebee (12–20 mm) with velvety short black hair and an orange-red tail, resembling Bombus lapidarius but appearing later (from May). Males have conspicuously large compound eyes. It is a generalist forager found in warm, dry, flower-rich grasslands and ruderal areas. It nests underground in abandoned rodent burrows, forming small colonies. In Switzerland it is rare and declining due to habitat loss, confined to a few warm inner-alpine valleys. Swiss Red List: Regionally Extinct (RE).