Les bourdons du genre Bombus Latreille sensu stricto en Europe Occidentale et Centrale (Hymenoptera, Apidae)
Auteur : Rasmont (Pierre)
Année de publication : 1984
Publication : Spixiana
Volume :
7
Fascicule : 2
Pagination : 135-160
Résumé :
Four species of bumblebees of the genus Bombus Latreille sensu stricto occur in the main part of Central and Western Europe: Bombus terrestris auct., B. lucorum (L., 1761), B. magnus Vogt, 1911 and B. cryptarum (Fabricius, 1775). They are all redescribed and new characters are listed and illustrated to permit a safe determination of queens and workers. Three new subspecies of Bombus cryptarum are described: reinigianus Rasmont, armeniensis Rasmont and caucasiensis Rasmont. Bombus magnus and Bombus cryptarum appear to be confined to Ericaceae moorlands, they can be named «stenotopic ericophil». These two species can probably be distinguished from one another by phenology: B. cryptarum appears to be a precocious species with relatively small colonies which decline quickly; the colonies of B. magnus are greater and they appear and decline later in the season. Preliminary maps of European an Belgian distributions of Bombus magnus and Bombus cryptarum are provided. The hercynian-distributed Bombus cryptarum seems to have driven the armorican-distributed Bombus magnus westward. The relict distribution of B. magnus in Central and Eastern Europe confirms this hypothesis and provides further evidence that this species and B. cryptarum are not conspecific.