Bombus (Melanobombus) festivus Smith

An, Jiandong, Huang, Jiaxing, Shao, Youquan, Zhang, Shiwen, Wang, Biao, Liu, Xinyu, Wu, Jie & Williams, Paul H., 2014, The bumblebees of North China (Apidae, Bombus Latreille), Zootaxa 3830 (1), pp. 1-89 : 70-71

70. Bombus (Melanobombus) festivus Smith

( Figs 142, 143 )

Bombus festivus Smith, 1861:152 .

BOMBUS ATROCINCTUS Smith, 1870:193.

BOMBUS TERMINALIS Smith, 1870:193 .

Bombus (Alpigenobombus) handel-mazettii Pittioni, 1939:260.

Material examined. 43 workers, 53 males (IAB).

Distribution in North China. Only in the Qin-Ba mountains in southern Gansu and southern Shaanxi. Common at low to medium elevations of the Baishuijiang nature reserve in southernmost Gansu, and at medium elevations of the Hualongshan nature reserve in southernmost Shaanxi. 9 localities ( Fig. 142 ) between 719–2179 m (IAB).

Similar species in North China. Workers of this species are similar in their brown colour pattern with a white tail to B. consobrinus and B. hypnorum (see the key; Figs 37 , 101 , 143 ).

Distribution in China. Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang, Shaanxi, Gansu (IAB).

Forage plants. ASTERACEAE : Arctium lappa , Cirsium leo , BIGNONIACEAE : Incarvillea sinensis ; BUDDLEJACEAE : Buddleja officinalis ; LAMIACEAE : Vitex negundo ; MALVACEAE : Alcea rosea .

Figures

FIGURES 142 – 143. 142. Map showing the distribution of B. festivus in North China with records as black spots, the province boundaries in dark grey, and all sites with records of all bumblebee species in light grey. 143. B. festivus worker visiting Alcea rosea (Malvaceae) in Gansu.

FIGURES 36 – 37. 36. Map showing the distribution of B. consobrinus in North China with records as black spots, the province boundaries in dark grey, and all sites with records of all bumblebee species in light grey. 37. B. consobrinus woker visiting Aconitum barbatum (Ranunculaceae) in Hebei.

FIGURES 100 – 101. 100. Map showing the distribution of B. hypnorum in North China with records as black spots, the province boundaries in dark grey, and all sites with records of all bumblebee species in light grey. 101. B. hypnorum worker visiting Ligularia sp. (Asteraceae) in Gansu.