Field Cuckoo Bumblebee - Bombus campestris

Length 10 to 20 mm. A fairly large cuckoo bee. Queens have two yellow bands on the thorax, abdomen all black with greenish-yellow tip with extensive side patches, males are similar but with more extensive greenish-yellow areas on the abdomen.

Found nectaring in gardens, hedgerows and flower meadows.

April to September. Queens emerge in April and May, males and new queens in July and August.

Parasitic in the nests of Bombus pascuorum.

Widespread but not particularly frequent in Britain.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland.