White-tailed Bumblebee - SE Kazakhstan Bombus lucorum

These photos, taken in southeast Kazakhstan by Alexandra Makhnina, are thought to be of the White-tailed Bumblebee, common throughout Eurasia. (The Northern White-tailed, Chinese White-tailed and the Cryptic Bumblebee workers all look similar.)

The male White-tailed Bumblebee, above, looks very different to the queens and workers (top row left). He also has the a white tail but has lemony or straw yellow on his face, shoulders and upper abdomen. He looks a lot more (pale, lemon) yellow, with yellow hair on his head, a band on the upper and usually also lower thorax as well as on his upper abdomen.