Bombus sylvarum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Ornosa, Concepción, Torres, Félix & Rúa, Pilar De La, 2017, Updated list of bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from the Spanish Pyrenees with notes on their decline and conservation status, Zootaxa 4237 (1), pp. 41-77 : 64

Bombus sylvarum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Palearctic species, distributed throughout Europe and Central Asia. Its status in the IUCN European Red List is of Least Concern (Rasmont et al. 2015).

It has been collected in the Pyrenees in forest grasslands of mixed oak and pine wood, with patches of subalpine scrub, at 960, 1155, 1320 and 1882 m ( Fig. 7 ), on Antirrhinum majus L., Centaurea scabiosa L., Eryngium bourgatii Gouan and Medicago sativa L.

According to the current data this species is clearly in regression, as it was much more common and frequent in the past ( Ornosa 1984, Castro 1994, Ornosa & Ortiz-Sánchez 2004). Taking into account the scarce records ( Table 2 ), it seems to point to a greater orophilous tendency.

New records. Spain: Girona: Ribes de Freser, 9 - VII-2015, 1 queen, C. Ornosa, UCME. Huesca: Chía, Mirador, Valle de Benasque, 14- VII-2011, 2 workers, C. Ornosa leg., UCME; Formigal, 9-VII- 2 009, 1 queen, C. Ornosa leg., UCME; Santa Olaria, 9- VII-2013, 1 worker, C. Ornosa leg., UCME.

The individual of Formigal belongs to the melanic population of B. sylvarum form nigrescens ( Linnaeus , 1761), which was recently also collected in Picos de Europa (Cantabria: Camijanes , 115 m, 18- IX-2010, 1 queen, C. Ornosa leg., UCME), on Medicago sativa L.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Distribution (in meters) range of the bumblebee species and subspecies observed in contemporary samplings (grey rectangles) in the Pyrenees compared with the known altitude distribution (black bars) from historical data.