Bug FAQHill Cuckoo Bumble bee
Bombus rupestris · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae
Also called: Hill Cuckoo Bee, Red-tailed (Hill) Cuckoo Bee, Red-tailed Cuckoo Bee, Red-tailed Cuckoo Bumble Bee
The Hill Cuckoo Bumble bee is a black bumblebee with orange-red tips on its abdomen. Females are noticeably larger (20 to 25 mm) than males, which are no more than about 16 mm long. It lives in flower-rich meadows and hedgerows across most of Europe, except Iceland.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The bee is black with the last abdominal segments colored orange-red.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females measure 20 to 25 mm, while males are usually no longer than 16 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Because it is a parasitic cuckoo bumblebee, it has no workers.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Its parasitic lifestyle means there are no worker bees.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It occurs in most of Europe, but not in Iceland.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the Hill Cuckoo Bumble bee look like?
It is black with orange-red tips on the last abdominal segments and the female is larger than the male.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is this bumblebee found?
It lives in flower-rich meadows and hedgerows across most of Europe, except Iceland.
Source: Wikipedia
What other bee might it be confused with?
It is often associated with the red-tailed bumblebee because it invades its nests.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Apidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_rupestris
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.