Is the bee species Bombus pascuorum native or common in North America?

Question

I noticed this bee on my butterfly bush, I tried really hard to get a picture of him but I didn't want to get too close because I don't know if I am allergic to bees. I looked through various pictures until I found it. I have never seen this type of bee before.

Please let me know if they are common to North America, because every report I could find on them said that they were native to Britian.

I am really curious, so thank you for any information you can provide. Also what is the common name for Bombus pascuorum?

Answer 1

Well, the common name is the Bumblebee, but that is a name applied to any species in the Bombus genus. The reason it has no distinct common name is most likely because it is not yet well-studied. I am not sure if this particular species you found is North American, but there are some other species of bumblebee native to North America indeed. Since a lot of species look near identical, you may have mistaken another for B. pascuorum. So maybe, I'm thinking it could be a Red-tailed Bumblebee, or Golden Northern Bumblebee. Those are North American species.

Answer 2

That is the European bumble bee.  You know it takes an expert to tell which bee is which.  It is often impossible for the lay person to id any insect online just using pictures.

http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P81464

http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/...

Answer 3

http://www.bumblebee.org/helpbees.htm