Description and photos of the earth bumblebee
The earth bumblebee is a representative of the bee family. It differs from other species. bumblebee quite large in size. Its color is represented by a combination of black and red hairs with white patches. The insect is widespread due to its ability to efficiently pollinate plants, throwing off pollen during its vibratory flight. This fact did not go unnoticed by scientists and specialists who decided to develop a technology for breeding this type of bumblebees on an industrial scale.
Appearance and size
The largest representative of the bumblebee family is the uterus. It can reach 27 mm in length. Working females grow to an average of 12-17 mm. The largest males grow to 22 mm, and their average body size is 11-22 mm in length.
The color of females and males do not differ. In the photo of an earthen bumblebee, you can see that black hairs with a red band dominate on the back. The belly of the insect combines black, red and white sling. The chest is black in color, just like his body, limbs and long antennae.
Spread
The earth bumblebee prefers to build nests in the ground, choosing for this purpose former rodent burrows, empty cavities in the soil. Unlike many of its brethren settled in the middle latitudes of Eurasia and even in the northern parts of the Far East, the earthen representative of the bee colony is a heat-loving insect.
Its main habitats are:
- southern part of Europe;
- Caucasus;
- Front and Central Asia;
- southern regions of the Urals and Western Siberia;
- Northwest Africa.
Arthropods often choose forest-steppe zones for habitat and nectar collection. In recent years, due to the widespread use of this insect in agriculture, its range has expanded considerably to the east of Russia.
Application in agriculture
The earth bumblebee began to be bred at the end of the last century. Agricultural industry experts have developed a technology for using these insects in greenhouses for growing vegetables and berries. It copes well with pollination of such significant plants in the rural industry:
- tomatoes;
- eggplants;
- cross-pollinated cucumbers;
- Bulgarian pepper;
- strawberries;
- blueberry;
- cranberries and others.
Insects are bred in greenhouses in special small hives. The uterus cares for eggs and larvae, and working females actively collect nectar from greenhouse plants. During its flight, the bumblebee creates strong vibrations by the body, which contributes to the effective spread of pollen throughout the beds.
On a note!
The earthen bumblebee has a relatively short proboscis, which is not capable of extracting nectar from the deep inflorescences of a meadow clover. Using it to pollinate this plant is ineffective.
Earth insect families live in greenhouses for about 2 months. During this period, shaggy workers have time to pollinate almost 100% of greenhouse plants. On average, one hive has 400-500 workers.
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