---
title: "Black-tailed Bumble Bee"
description: "Bombus melanopygus — Owady i pająki. Bombus melanopygus, the black-tailed bumble bee, black tail bumble bee or orange-rumped bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to western North America."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/black-tailed-bumble-bee
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Black-tailed Bumble Bee

> Bombus melanopygus — Owady i pająki. Bombus melanopygus, the black-tailed bumble bee, black tail bumble bee or orange-rumped bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to western North America.

- Scientific name: *Bombus melanopygus*
- Category: `insects` (Owady i pająki)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Łąki i pola), `mountains` (Góry)
- iNaturalist observations: 28703
- Wikidata: [Q2231933](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2231933)
- iNaturalist taxon: [130222](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/130222)

## Names

- en: Black-tailed Bumble Bee
- fr: Bourdon à croupe noire

## Countries with the most observations

US (20282), CA (6057), MX (73)

## Summary

Bombus melanopygus, the black-tailed bumble bee, black tail bumble bee or orange-rumped bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to western North America. 
This bee is widely distributed across western North America, from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, and from Alaska to Baja California.
There are two forms of the black-tailed bumblebee: 

Red form (“red butts,” Bombus melanopygus melanopygus) found primarily in higher latitudes of  Oregon and points north, and in the Mountain West
Dark color form (Bombus melanopygus edwardsii) is most common in California and southern Oregon
(The second and third abdominal…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_melanopygus

## Photo

![Black-tailed Bumble Bee](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/black-tailed-bumble-bee/medium.jpg)

Photo: Karin Kersteter · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/282206942

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/black-tailed-bumble-bee?lang=pl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).