Bombus sichelii flavissimus (Tkalců, 1974), Tkalcu, 1974

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 : 53

Bombus sichelii flavissimus (Tkalců, 1974)

It is a mountain subspecies, spread in the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Range, on mountain pastures ( Ornosa & Ortiz-Sánchez 2004).

Currently it has been collected in the Pyrenees ( Table 2 ) in temperate forest, upperforest and alpine grasslands and shrublands, over all in coniferous forest of Pinus uncinata and Abies alba with scattered patches of subalpine shrub, since 1300 (only two individuals) to 2300 m, mostly above 1650 m ( Fig. 7 ), on Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull., Centaurea scabiosa L., Gentiana alpina Mill. , Lavandula pyrenaica DC., Lotus corniculatus L., Rhododendron ferrugineum L., Trifolium pratense L. , Trifolium repens L. and Vaccinium myrtillus L.

This bee exhibits a greater orophilous tendency ( Fig. 7 ). It was assessed as Low Concerned (LC) in the IUCN Spanish Red List ( Verdú & Galante 2006).

New records. Andorra: Soldeu, 28-VII-2006, 4 workers, C. Ornosa leg., UCME.

Spain: Girona : Nùria, 24-VII-2009, 1 worker, C. Ornosa leg., UCME ; Nùria , Pic de l´ Àliga, 24-VII-2009, 10 workers, C. Ornosa leg., UCME . Huesca : Chía , Mirador, Valle de Benasque, 14-VII-2011, 1 male, 1 worker, C. Ornosa leg., UCME ; Sahún pass, 14-VII-2011, 4 males, 1 queen, 1 worker, C. Ornosa leg., UCME ; La Besurta , Ibón de Villamorta, 15-VII-2011, 6 workers, C. Ornosa leg., UCME . Lleida : Artiga de Lin, 15-VIII-2012, 1 worker, P. De la Rúa leg, UMU: Baqueira-Ruda, 27-VII-2006, 1 male, C. Ornosa leg., UCME ; Aigüestortes threshold, 26-VII-2006, 1 male, C. Ornosa leg., UCME ; Grasslands between Estany Ratera and Estany Sant Maurici, 8-VII-2014, 1 worker; C. Ornosa leg., UCME ; Jou road, 27-VII-2006, 1 male, C. Ornosa leg., UCME ; Estany Ratera track, 26-VII-2006, 1 worker, C. Ornosa leg., UCME .

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.