Brown-banded carder bee

Description

The brown-banded carder bee is medium-sized with a relatively long tongue.The queen is 16–18 mm (0.63–0.71 in) long,the worker 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in).The thorax is usually yellow-orange on top,with beige flanks,but may be dark brown.Most of the abdomen is beige,too,although with a somewhat striped effect.Both queens (the reproductive females) and workers usually have a broad,dark brown band (hence the common name) on the upper side of the abdomen,near the front,although it can be missing on some workers.A few black hairs - may only be one or two – are present on the thorax near the wing-bases.[8] Males are similar to queens,but they lack stings and have longer antennae.