Bombus (Alpigenobombus) nobilis Friese

An, Jiandong, Williams, Paul H., Zhou, Bingfeng, Miao, Zhengying & Qi, Wenzhong, 2011, The bumblebees of Gansu, Northwest China (Hymenoptera, Apidae), Zootaxa 2865, pp. 1-36 : 22-23

43. Bombus (Alpigenobombus) nobilis Friese s. l.

( Fig. 46 )

Bombus validus Friese, 1905:510 , syntype queen ( Tkalců, 1987:60) MNHU examined. Synonymised provisionally with Bombus nobilis Friese by Williams (1998). ‘Turkestan Kashgar’, believed incorrect.

Bombus nobilis Friese, 1905:513 , type not found ( Williams et al., 2009). China: Sichuan.

Bombus sikkimi Friese, 1918:82 , syntype queen MNHU examined. Synonymised provisionally with Bombus nobilis Friese by Williams (1998). [ India]

Nobilibombus morawitziides Skorikov, 1933b:62, holotype worker ZISP examined. Synonymised with Alpigenobombus validus (Friese) by Tkalců (1987). Synonymised provisionally with Bombus nobilis Friese by Williams (1998). China: ‘Gansu’, probably Qinghai.

Bombus (Nobilibombus) xizangensis Wang, 1979:188 , holotype worker IZB examined. Synonymised provisionally with Bombus nobilis Friese by Williams (1998). China: Xizang.

Bombus (Nobilibombus) chayaensis Wang, 1979:189 , holotype queen IZB examined. Synonymised provisionally with Bombus nobilis Friese by Williams (1998). China: Xizang.

Taxonomy. For a discussion of the taxonomy of this species see Williams et al. (2009) and Williams (2011).

Material examined. 8 workers 1 male (IAB).

Distribution in Gansu. Common at medium to high elevations of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau in the southwest and western mountains ( Fig. 46 ); 4 localities between 2196 and 3524 m (IAB).

Distribution in China. Yunnan, Gansu (IAB).

Forage plants. ASTERACEAE : Carduus crispus , Ligularia sp., Saussurea sp.; ONAGRACEAE : Epilobium angustifolium .

Figures

FIGURE 40 – 54. Maps of Gansu showing the recorded presences of the species as black spots with county boundaries shown in grey.