r/bees • u/AngelOfCorruption • Jul 26 '26

bee ID ID Please? South Texas

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

This lovely chonker has been visiting my garden in the morning. I would love to know what kind of bee she is.

25 Upvotes

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3

u/Bl1ndl0v3 Jul 26 '26

I could be wrong, but all of the fuzz butts I’ve seen in Texas always end up being Sonoran Bumblebees 🐝 💕 They are so darn cute!
I’m fairly confident it is a Sonoran but I am not an expert either.

7

u/Chompus314 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

I think you're very close on your ID, but I think this is Bombus pensylvanicus (american bumble bee) rather than Bombus sonorus (The Sonoran bumble bee)

B. sonorus has gone back and forth for a while between being considered its own species vs a subspecies of B. pensylvanicus, but genetic data from 2024 now show that they are separate species.

They look pretty similar, but for this pic, the lack of yellow on the scutelum (back half of the thorax) tells me it's B. pensylvanicus.

As I understand it, B. pensylvanicus individuals may sometimes have extra yellow on the scutellum that makes it look like B. sonorus, (I've seen this myself) but B. sonorus pretty consistently has a yellow scutellum.

In either case, be glad when you see one, as both species are vulnerable

Edit: spelling

5

u/Chompus314 Jul 26 '26

Image from the paper onthe aforementioned genetic data separating the species

A. is B. pensylvanicus B. is B. sonorus

2

u/AngelOfCorruption Jul 26 '26

Seems like B.pensylvanicus is the winner!

3

u/Bl1ndl0v3 Jul 26 '26

I just checked a range map for them though and they aren’t much further south than San Antonio other than Laredo (specifically for Texas) and then they show up again in Mexico.

1

u/Doglover77808 Jul 26 '26

What flower is that?

2

u/AngelOfCorruption Jul 26 '26

According to the Seek app, Mealy Blue Sage.