49. Bombus (Melanobombus) sichelii Radoszkowski

(Fig. 52)

BOMBUS SICHELII Radoszkowski, 1860:481, lectotype queen (Tkalců, 1974a:34) MNHU examined. Russia: Kamchatskaya Oblast’.

Bombus sicheli f. uniens Vogt, 1909:62, 26 queen 94 worker syntypes ZMA examined. ‘Zentralasien’, probably Mongolia. Bombus sicheli ssp. chinganicus Reinig, 1936:6 (not of Reinig, 1936:8 = B. bohemicus Seidl), type not seen. China: Neimenggu.

Material examined. 107 workers 10 males (IAB).

Distribution in Gansu. Common at low to high elevations of the eastern loess plateau and Qinghai-Tibetan plateau in the southwest; rare at low to medium elevations of the southeastern and western mountains (Fig. 52); 18 localities between 1506 and 3454 m (IAB).

Distribution in China. Hebei, Shanxi, Neimenggu, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia (IAB).

Forage plants. FABACEAE: Melilotus officinalis, Vicia unijuga; GENTIANACEAE: Halenia elliptica; LAMI- ACEAE: Caryopteris incana, C. tangutica, Dracocephalum heterophyllum, Salvia przewalskii, Salvia sp.; RANUN- CULACEAE: Cosmos bipinnatus, Saussurea sp.; SCROPHULARIACEAE: Euphrasia pectinata, Pedicularis torta, Pedicularis sp.