Common Eastern Bumble Bee vs Marbled Minor

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Common Eastern Bumble Bee Marbled Minor
Scientific Name Bombus impatiens Oligia strigilis
Order Hymenoptera Lepidoptera
Family Apidae Noctuidae
Size 8-23 mm 24-28 mm wingspan
Habitat Underground Underground
Diet Nectar Feeders Root Feeders
Regions Eastern North America Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Common Eastern Bumble Bee

A robust fuzzy bumble bee with a black body and yellow thoracic band that is widely used as a commercial greenhouse pollinator. It is the most abundant bumble bee in eastern North America.

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Did You Know?

It can perform buzz pollination by vibrating its flight muscles at a specific frequency to shake pollen from flowers like tomatoes.

Marbled Minor

A small, cryptically marked moth that is extremely variable in pattern. Part of a complex of similar-looking species that can only be reliably separated by dissection.

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Did You Know?

Part of a notoriously difficult species complex where three species look almost identical.