Pale Triangle vs Western Bumble Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Pale Triangle Western Bumble Bee
Scientific Name Graphium eurypylus Bombus occidentalis
Order Lepidoptera Hymenoptera
Family Papilionidae Apidae
Size 6-7 cm wingspan 10-22 mm
Habitat Rivers & Streams Mountains
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea Western North America
Conservation Least Concern Vulnerable

Pale Triangle

A fast-flying swallowtail with pale blue-green triangle markings on black wings. It frequently puddles on wet sand and mud along creek beds.

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Did You Know?

Males form dense congregations of up to hundreds on wet riverbanks to extract minerals from mud.

Western Bumble Bee

A once-common bumble bee of western North America that has experienced dramatic population declines since the late 1990s. They nest underground in abandoned rodent burrows.

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Did You Know?

Their catastrophic decline is linked to a pathogen accidentally spread through commercial bumble bee rearing facilities.