Photo: Ivar Leidus / CC BY-SA 4.0

Bombus pascuorum

Common Carder Bee

The Common Carder Bee is one of the most widespread and frequently encountered bumblebees in Switzerland. It has a distinctive ginger-brown thorax and a greyish-brown abdomen with a variable dark band, though coloration varies greatly. It has a notably long tongue and favours deep flowers like dead-nettles, clovers, and vetches. Its nest is built on or near the ground surface in grass tussocks, moss cushions, or abandoned small mammal nests, roofed with gathered grass and moss. Colonies are modest with 30–130 individuals. It has an exceptionally long flight period lasting from March well into November, visiting a vast range of flowers. It is parasitised by the cuckoo bumblebee Bombus campestris. In Switzerland it is found from lowland gardens and parks up to alpine meadows. Swiss Red List: Least Concern (LC).