Color has more to do with sex, and food (prey/hunter) than warmth, 
otherwise polar bears would be black.

Heat preservation comes with size and the outside layers of 
fat/fur/hair.The more the better, up to a point.

Color is associated with surroundings and sex. If you blend in and are 
not seen well by prey or predators, you last longer. On the other hand,  
if you stand out and are more attractive to the opposite sex, you are 
more apt to mate than less colorful competitors.

There may be another similar animal/insect that looks a lot like you so 
color may change to differentiate the species.

It could also be that the colors most easily seen by the species are the 
one they take on. An interesting recent finding was that when red and 
other colors were first able to be seen by primates, they took on those 
colors.

So there can easily be light and dark colored bees at the same latitude, 
since what is found at that latitude will not be uniform, even within a 
few hundred miles. I would look at the surroundings such as plant type, 
competition and predators than the lack of heat.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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