Forest Cuckoo Bee Bombus Sylvestris Royalty-Free Stock Photo

A widespread and often common cuckoo bumblebee, parasitic on the Early bumblebee Bombus pratorum and also probably on the Heath bumblebee Bombus jonellus and the Bilberry bumblebee Bombus monticola. Like all cuckoo species, they do not collect pollen for their offspring, and so have no pollen baskets or worker caste. A small species, they have darkened wings, a yellow thoracic collar and a yellow abdominal band with a white tail, the very tip of which is orange in males or black in females. Females also have a characteristic stance, with the tip of the abdomen very curled-up underneath, while males can sometimes show an extra yellow band at the rear of the thorax or at the front of the abdomen.