lindy flower

I made myself a flower crown today and I wanted to share it with you all. Flower Crowns are really awesome, and everyone deserves one.

I used the Weaving method, detailed below in the link provided! Here's a visual guide as well, if you're a visual learner like myself.

https://mtcubacenter.org/plants/leather-flower/ 

B impatiens^

close look alike example of B. bimaculatus (black topped and T2 slightly tufted vs B. impatiens  where t2 is not tufted and the thorax is not overtly black, only other way is to view face for Malar elongation according to what I could fid on the net.

T2 tuft on common melk weed 

jewelweed/common eastern with no t2 tuft. 

“two spotted with t2 tuft on Monarda fistulosa

The best ways to separate impatiens from bimaculatus are, as you said, 1) presence of a centrally-located (sometimes distinctly two-lobed) yellow patch on T2 vs all black in impatiens, 2) long malar space (aka a long face) in bimaculatus vs just ‘average’ in impatiens, and 3) a distinct black central circle of hair on the scutum (upper face of thorax) vs a diffuse grayish area in impatiens. Malar space is not often visible in the field, but can be distinguishable in photos if high resolution and at the right angle. However it usually isn’t needed for these particular species if the other features are visible (it can become more important for species like auricomus, pensylvanicus, and terricola that can look otherwise identical). Malar space specifically refers to the ratio of how long the distance is between the bottom of the eye and the midpoint of the mandible attachment to the width of the base of the mandible. ‘Long’ is longer than the base is wide, ‘equal’ or ‘average’ is equal, and ‘short’ is shorter than the mandible base is wide. 

If you’d like to learn more about bumblebee ID, a good book is Bumble Bees of North America by Paul Williams et al. Impatiens, bimaculatus, and griseocollis are all extremely common in the eastern US, although impatiens is generally by far the most common.