.
B. borealis queen visiting Vicia. |
Subterraneobombus
ecology
and behaviour
HABITAT:
Alpine grassland, open grassland, and semi-desert.
FOOD-PLANTS:
Long tongue-length bumblebees visiting deep flowers.
NESTING
BEHAVIOUR:
Nests underground or sometimes on the surface.
Pocket-makers.
MATE-SEARCHING
BEHAVIOUR:
Males recorded patrolling circuits of scent marks.
Males also recorded congregating at the entrances
of nests to pursue emerging queens.
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Subgenus
SUBTERRANEOBOMBUS Vogt
Bombus (Subterraneobombus) Vogt, 1911:62,
type-species Apis subterranea Linnaeus (= Bombus
subterraneus (Linnaeus)) by subsequent designation
of Frison, 1927:68
Subterraneibombus Skorikov, 1938a:145,
unjustified emendation
Part
of the bumblebee phylogenetic tree including available
Subterraneobombus species from an analysis of
DNA sequence data for five genes (Cameron
et al. 2007
[pdf]).
Values above branches are Bayesian posterior probabilities,
values below branches are parsimony bootstrap values.
Bombus
(St.) amurensis Radoszkowski
Amurensis Radoszkowski, 1862:590,
examined
mongol Skorikov, 1912:607,
examined
chaharensis Yasumatsu, 1940:94,
type lost
3 names
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Palaearctic Region, Oriental borders.
Bombus
(St.) fragrans (Pallas)
fragrans (Pallas, 1771:474
[Apis]) type lost
4 names
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Palaearctic Region.
IUCN
CONSERVATION STATUS: Preliminary assessment as VULNERABLE
(Williams & Osborne, 2009)
by criterion A2 (IUCN, 2001,
2008) that it has undergone
a a substantial decline in area of occurrence and numbers
of records in >50% of the range since 1950.
Bombus
(St.) fedtschenkoi Morawitz
Fedtschenkoi Morawitz in Fedtschenko, 1875:5,
examined
fertoni
Vogt, 1911:63, examined
11 names
DISTRIBUTION:
Palaearctic Region.
Bombus
(St.) melanurus Lepeletier
melanurus Lepeletier, [1835]:469,
examined
[lan-tschóuensis Vogt, 1909:53,
infrasubspecific]
subdistinctus
Richards, 1928a:333,
examined
lantschouensis Tkalcu, 1961:360,
examined, not of Vogt, 1908:101
(= B. patagiatus
Nylander)
9
names
TAXONOMIC
STATUS: B. melanurus, B. difficillimus, and
B. tschitscherini have been treated both as conspecific
and as separate species (Williams, 1991
[pdf]). Aside from differences in colour pattern,
they are closely similar in morphology.
Nonetheless,
B. melanurus can be differentiated by the morphology
of the male genitalia (Williams, 1991
[pdf]). Evidence from comparisons of DNA sequences
from the 16S gene is consistent with B. melanurus
and B. difficillimus being separate species
(Cameron et al., 2007
[pdf]).
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Oriental, Palaearctic Regions.
Bombus
(St.) difficillimus Skorikov
difficillimus
Skorikov, 1912:609,
examined
2 names
TAXONOMIC
STATUS: See the comments on B. melanurus.
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male
genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Oriental Region, Palaearctic borders.
Bombus
(St.) tschitscherini Behr
Tschitscherini Behr in Radoszkowski, 1862:591
3
names
TAXONOMIC
STATUS: See the comments on B. melanurus.
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male
genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Palaearctic Region.
Bombus
(St.) personatus Smith
personatus Smith, 1879:132,
examined
Roborowskyi Morawitz, 1887:197,
examined
8 names
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Oriental Region.
Bombus
(St.) subterraneus (Linnaeus)
fubterranea [subterranea] (Linnaeus, 1758:579
[Apis]) examined
Nemorum (Scopoli, 1763:307
[Apis])
36 names
NOMENCLATURE:
The orthography of Linnaeus (1758)
and Panzer (1801) employs
a long 's' (similar to 'f' or 'f'),
a common practice of the period. This convention has
since changed and recent authors have consistently used
's'.
Løken
(1984) interpreted B.
saltuum as being conspecific with B. barbutellus
(see the comments on B. barbutellus).
Warncke (1986) interpreted
B. saltuum as having been described from a male
(presumably because the antennae were described as rather
long) conspecific with B. subterraneus. No type
specimen is known. The description of the anterior part
of the gaster of B. saltuum as ashen and the
middle part as nearly bald is perhaps slightly closer
to B. barbutellus, because although both species
may have gastral tergum I with pale hair and terga I-III
short or sparsely haired, this hair is less dense for
B. barbutellus, so the tergum shines through
the hair more clearly.
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male
genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Palaearctic Region.
INTRODUCTIONS:
This species has been introduced into New Zealand (e.g.
Gurr, 1957; Macfarlane
& Gurr, 1995). It
has not been recorded in Britain since 1988 (see
declines in British bumble bees).
NOTES
on this species in Britain.
Bombus
(St.) distinguendus Morawitz
nemorum (Fabricius, 1775:382
[Apis]) not of Scopoli, 1763:307
(= B. subterraneus
(Linnaeus)), not of Fabricius, 1775:380
(?= B. bohemicus
Seidl)
elegans Seidl, 1837:67,
type lost
distinguendus Morawitz, 1869:32,
examined
8 names
NOMENCLATURE:
The name B. elegans has been applied to several
taxa by different authors. Tkalcu (1969:901-903)
reasoned that Seidl had originally described B. elegans
from an individual of the species that has more recently
been known by the name B. distinguendus, although
Seidl's original type is lost. According to Tkalcu,
a specimen of B. mesomelas may then have been
substituted as the type, but now this cannot be found
either. Any remaining confusion could be resolved by
the designation of an appropriate neotype (ICZN, 1999:
Article 75). See the comments on B. mesomelas.
Although B. elegans may be the oldest available
name for the present interpretation of this species,
the name B. distinguendus has been in common
use for the species since 1950 (e.g. Tkalcu, 1969,
1974a; Løken, 1973;
Alford, 1975; Delmas, 1976; Sakagami, 1976; Pekkarinen,
1979; Reinig, 1981; Pekkarinen et al., 1981;
Rasmont, 1983; Pekkarinen & Teräs, 1993;
Rasmont et al., 1995).
I know of no publications using the name B. elegans
for this taxon since 1950 (only for B. mesomelas
Gerstaecker, as a misidentification). It is suggested
that, in the interests of stability (ICZN, 1999:
Article 23) and to prevent confusion with B. mesomelas,
prevailing usage be maintained (in
prep.).
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male
genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
Palaearctic Region.
NOTES
on this species in Britain.
Bombus
(St.) borealis Kirby
borealis Kirby, 1837:272,
type lost
1 name
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
W Nearctic, E Nearctic Regions.
Bombus
(St.) appositus Cresson
appositus Cresson, 1878:183
1 name
MORPHOLOGY:
photos of male genitalia.
DISTRIBUTION:
W Nearctic Region.
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