Mesoamerican Bumble Bee

Bombus ephippiatus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Mesoamerican Bumble Bee
Photo: Gerardo Ochoa, CC BY

The Mesoamerican bumble bee lives in Mexico and Central America, mainly in pine-oak and other mountain forests. It feeds on many kinds of flowers and can be active all year in some areas.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Its body hairs may be white, yellow, orange, red, brown, or black.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It lives mainly in pine-oak and other mountain forest habitats.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

It feeds on many kinds of flowers.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

In some areas it is active year-round.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It is native to Mexico and Central America.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Mesoamerican Bumble Bee photo 2
Photo: Ángela Patricia Rojas Cortés, CC BY-SA
Mesoamerican Bumble Bee photo 3
Photo: Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, CC BY
Mesoamerican Bumble Bee photo 4
Photo: Alina Martin, CC BY
Mesoamerican Bumble Bee photo 5
Photo: Joao Jairzinho, CC BY

Same family (Apidae)

Western Honey BeeWestern Honey BeeApis melliferaCan stingCommon Eastern Bumble BeeCommon Eastern Bumble BeeBombus impatiensCan stingEastern Carpenter BeeEastern Carpenter BeeXylocopa virginicaCan stingBrown-belted Bumble BeeBrown-belted Bumble BeeBombus griseocollisCommon Carder Bumble BeeCommon Carder Bumble BeeBombus pascuorumBuff-tailed Bumble BeeBuff-tailed Bumble BeeBombus terrestris

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_ephippiatus

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.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.