Bombus (Alpigenobombus) wurflenii Radoszkowski, 1860

Williams, Paul H., An, Jiandong, Dorji, Phurpa, Huang, Jiaxing, Jaffar, Saleem, Japoshvili, George, Narah, Jaya, Ren, Zongxin, Streinzer, Martin, Thanoosing, Chawatat, Tian, Li & Orr, Michael C., 2023, Bumblebees with big teeth: revising the subgenus Alpigenobombus with the good, the bad and the ugly of numts (Hymenoptera: Apidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 892 (1), pp. 1-65 : 26-31

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2023.892.2283

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:07D215E7-FB43-4640-BB5B-D1AF50269AF1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10022513

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1A438786-7936-042B-9E80-FB55FDBAFE66

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Bombus (Alpigenobombus) wurflenii Radoszkowski, 1860
status

s. str.

1. Bombus (Alpigenobombus) wurflenii Radoszkowski, 1860 View in CoL View at ENA s. str.

Figs 19‒25 View Figs 19–105 , 106 View Figs 106–115

Bombus WURFLENii View in CoL [sic] Radoszkowski, 1860: 482.

Bombus alpigenus Morawitz, 1874: 132 View in CoL .

Alpigenobombus wurfleini subsp. uralicus Tkalců, 1969: 891 , by indication of Pittioni (1938). Note 1.

Bombus Wurfleini View in CoL ‒ Radoszkowski 1877: 191, incorrect subsequent spelling.

Bombus Wurfleni View in CoL ‒ Radoszkowski 1877: 191, incorrect subsequent spelling.

Bombus mastrucatus View in CoL morpha [not subsp.] uralicus ‒ Pittioni 1938: 66, infrasubspecific.

NOTE 1. Alpigenobombus wurfleini subsp. uralicus Tkalců, 1969: 891 , by indication of Pittioni (1938). Lectotype by designation of Tkalců (1969: 893): ♀ (queen) central Ural Mountains (‘Sojmonowsk’), Russia (NHMUK), examined.According to A. Byvaltsev (pers. com.), the type queen of the taxon uralicus was collected on the territory of modern Karabash, in Chelyabinsk Oblast (55.4465° N, 60.2151° E, ca 320 m a.s.l., but with ridges 20 km to the southwest that reach to ca 1100 m a.s.l.). The Soymonovsky goldmine (named after V.Yu. Soymonov, chairman of the Temporary Mining Commission responsible for the development of gold in the Middle Urals) and the small settlement Sak-Elginsky Vyselok were located here. Later copper deposits were discovered in the area and the Soymonovsky copper smelter was founded in 1834. The Sak-Elginsky settlement then began to be called Soymonovsky or simply Soymonovsk [= ‘Sojmonowsk’].

Species-taxon concept and variation

The taxon concept of the species B. wurflenii is revised here from the widely-cited interpretation since Tkalců (1969), to distinguish B. wurflenii from the separate taxon concept for the species B. mastrucatus (see the comments below on B. mastrucatus ), based on: (1) our PTP analysis supports independent species-level coalescents in the COI gene ( Fig. 12 View Fig ); corroborated by (2) diagnostic morphological character states (see below and the keys).

The morphological results (see the keys) support the interpretation that the individuals with the divergent colour patterns of the taxa wurflenii s. str. (Figs 20‒25) and uralicus (lectotype queen Fig. 19) are conspecific, although only a single queen of the taxon uralicus is available. Only two other individuals of the taxon uralicus from the Urals are definitely known at present (A. Byvaltsev pers. com.): a male from 1909 and a female from 1929 (both ZIN).

Variation in the colour-pattern diagrams for B. wurflenii in Figs 19‒25 is arranged approximately from north (Urals) to south ( Turkey). Bombus wurflenii , with its white-banded red-tailed female colour pattern in Turkey and the Caucasus, appears to mimic the more abundant B. (Melanobombus) incertus Morawitz, 1881 , B. (Ml.) eriophorus Klug, 1807 , and similar species ( Williams 2007: fig. 5l).

Type material

Bombus WURFLENii Radoszkowski, 1860: 482 View in CoL . Type not seen, but identity not in doubt.

Morphological diagnosis

Female Wings nearly clear with veins dark brown, hair long, oculo-malar area shorter than broad, clypeus adjacent to the labrum not raised in the centre but flat so that the shallow transverse anterior groove is not interrupted, this central area uniformly with many small punctures and not shining, ocello-ocular area with the punctures anteriorly to the unpunctured area at least as dense as posterior to it (cf. B. mastrucatus ); hair of the thoracic dorsum black, with bands anteriorly and usually posteriorly grey-white.

Male

Wings nearly clear with veins dark brown, hair long, oculo-malar area shorter than broad; genitalia ( Fig. 106 View Figs 106–115 ) with the gonostylus long and distally near its midline axis convexly rounded, length on its outer side about a quarter as long as on its inner side with the two inner corners of the distal lobe rounded, the margin between them nearly straight, penis-valve head strongly recurved, the recurved hook much longer than broad and distally at the end of the hook broadly rounded (cf. B. mastrucatus ); hair of the thoracic dorsum between the wing bases either predominantly pale cream-yellow or with many pale cream-yellow hairs.

Material sequenced in Fig. 12 View Fig

GEORGIA • 1 ♀ (queen); Lagodekhi ; 41.8714° N, 46.3645° E; 22 Jun. 2015; G. Kirkitadze leg.; BOLD seq: 1555A01; IEAUG: AG#065 GoogleMaps .

Global distribution

Western Asia: Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia (Caucasus, Urals): IEAUG, NHM, PW, ZIN.

This species is recorded at elevations of 1600‒2570 m in Turkey in the montane and subalpine coniferous forest zone ( Rasmont & Flagothier 1996) and in the alpine zone in the northern Caucasus ( Skorikov 1910).

Behaviour

Male eye not obviously enlarged relative to female eye: males are expected to show ‘patrolling’ behaviour in search of mates ( Williams 1991).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Apidae

Genus

Bombus

Loc

Bombus (Alpigenobombus) wurflenii Radoszkowski, 1860

Williams, Paul H., An, Jiandong, Dorji, Phurpa, Huang, Jiaxing, Jaffar, Saleem, Japoshvili, George, Narah, Jaya, Ren, Zongxin, Streinzer, Martin, Thanoosing, Chawatat, Tian, Li & Orr, Michael C. 2023
2023
Loc

Alpigenobombus wurfleini subsp. uralicus Tkalců, 1969: 891

Tkalcu B. 1969: 891
1969
Loc

Bombus mastrucatus

Pittioni B. 1938: 66
1938
Loc

Bombus Wurfleini

Radoszkowski O. 1877: 191
1877
Loc

Bombus Wurfleni

Radoszkowski O. 1877: 191
1877
Loc

Bombus alpigenus

Morawitz F. F. 1874: 132
1874
Loc

Bombus WURFLENii

Radoszkowski O. 1860: 482
1860
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