Bombus (Subterraneobombus) melanurus (Lepeletier, 1836)

Boustani, Mira, Rasmont, Pierre, Dathe, Holger H., Ghisbain, Guillaume, Kasparek, Max, Michez, Denis, Müller, Andreas, Pauly, Alain, Risch, Stefan, Straka, Jakub, Terzo, Michael, Achter, Xavier Van, Wood, Thomas J. & Nemer, Nabil, 2021, The bees of Lebanon (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Zootaxa 4976 (1), pp. 1-146 : 107

Bombus (Subterraneobombus) melanurus (Lepeletier, 1836) ( fig. 28.2 )

Distribution: PALAEARCTIC: Central Asia, reaching the Caucasus and eastern Turkey to the west ( Rasmont et al. 2015).

Also restricted to altitudes above 1800 m in Lebanon ( Boustani et al. 2020). Local distribution fig. 17.4

Literature mentioned in Boustani et al. (2020) from BDFGM: Qadisha , 1200 m, no date, 1♀, det. Williams P.H., leg. Higgins L.G., coll. BMNH ; Arz Lubnan [Arz Bcharre], 1900 m, 5.VI.1931, 1♀, det. Williams P.H., leg. Zerny, coll. BMNH .

Material examined. N. Lebanon: Bcharre , Dahr El Adib, 2611 m, 20.VI.2016, 1W, leg. Boustani M.; Jord Bcharre, 2723 m, 24.VI.2016, 2♀, leg. Boustani M., all coll. MBOU. Additional 2♀, 18W, and 55♂, from 24 records, collected between 23.V.2017 and 20.VIII.2019, from Bcharre, Arz Bcharre, and Jord Tannourine .

Flower records. Asteraceae : Cirsium lappaceum , Cousinia libanotica ; Boraginaceae : Anchusa strigosa ; Fabaceae : Vicia canescens , Vicia tenuifolia ; Lamiaceae : Stachys ehrenbergii ; Papaveraceae : Glaucium leiocarpum .

Bombus (Sibiricobombus) niveatus (Kriechbaumer, 1870) ssp. vorticosus (Gerstäcker, 1872) ( fig. 28.1 ) Distribution: PALAEARCTIC: Centred on the Aegean Sea, reaching the eastern part of European Russia to the north, Iran to the east, and Israel to the south ( Rasmont et al. 2015).

Currently seems restricted to altitudes above 1800 m, despite older records from lower altitude areas ( Boustani et al. 2020). Local distribution fig. 17.5

Literature records mentioned in Boustani et al. (2020), from BDFGM: 1 specimen , sex unspecified, 1870; Cedern b. Bisharri [Arz Bcharre], 12.VI.1931, 2 specimens , sex unspecified, Zerny H.; Locality not found “Barnasa, Duhor”, 17.V.1936, 2♀ ; 22.V.1936, 2♀, det. Arnoldi, coll. MZNSP; Bekaa, 1990, 2 specimens , sex unspecified; Mount Hermon , 2010, 1♂ .

Material examined. Mount Lebanon: Qartaba, Matoube, 1648 m, 23.VII.2017, 1W, leg. Boustani M.

N. Lebanon: Horch Ehden , VI.2014, 1W, leg. Boustani C., Boustani M., Bcharre, Dahr El Adib, 2611 m, 20.VI.2016, 1♀, leg. Boustani M., coll. MBOU. Additional 23♀, 97W, and 76♂ from 52 records, collected between 8.VI.2017 and 20.VIII.2019, from Bcharre, Arz Bcharre, and Jord Tannourine .

Flower records. Asteraceae : Centaurea pallescens , Cirsium lappaceum , Cousinia libanotica ; Fabaceae : Astragalus angustifolius , Astragalus cruentiflorus , Vicia canescens , Vicia tenuifolia ; Lamiaceae : Stachys cretica , Stachys ehrenbergii .

Figures

FIGURE 17. Local distribution maps of material examined and literature of 1 Anthophora rogenhoferi, 2 Habropoda tarsata, 3 Bombus argillaceus, 4 Bombus melanurus, 5 Bombus niveatus, 6 Bombus terrestris.

FIGURE 28. 1 Bombus niveatus vorticosus♀ on Vicia canescens, 2 Bombus melanurus♀ on Cousinia libanotica, 3 Megachile parietana♀ on Lotus gebelia libanoticus, 4 Xylocopa valga♂ on Vicia canescens, 5 Megachile doriae♂ on Echinops sp., 6 Dasypoda spinigera♀ on Scabiosa argentea. Pictures taken by Mira Boustani.