rare

Moscardon bumblebee

Bombus dahlbomii

Habitat: Temperate forests, shrublands, and flower-rich Andean and Patagonian landscapes of southern Chile and Argentina.
Body length: 40 mm
Order: Hymenoptera · Apidae

Weird but real

This giant Patagonian bumblebee can see red flowers, a rare trick among bees, earning it nicknames like flying mouse and the panda of insects.

Why it's cool

One of the world's largest bumblebees, it is a shaggy orange pollinator whose decline reveals how imported bees can reshape whole southern ecosystems.

Photographs

The giant bumblebee (Bombus dahlbomii). A denizen of the southern Andes and widely believed to be in decline due to competition and perhaps spread of pathogens with two introduced European bumblebees that have invaded the region. You notice this bee when it flies by. Dramatically — USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab from Beltsville, Maryland, USA · Public domain · source

Bombus dahlbomii en cardón (Cynara cardunculus). Quebrada El Canelo, 2 km al sur de Los Vilos, Chile. — Pato Novoa · CC BY 2.0 · source