Bombus subterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758)

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 : 68

Bombus subterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758)

This is a large bumblebee species distributed in Europe and Central Asia , introduced in New Zealand (Michener 2007). It is considered as Least Concern in the IUCN European Red List (Rasmont et al. 2015). The Iberian population belongs to the subspecies:

Bombus subterraneus tectosagorum Kruseman, 1958

It occured mainly in the Pyrenees, entering into inner areas of the peninsula, in the Cantabrian Range and the provinces of Salamanca and Teruel between 1100 and 1900 m, with preference for habitats with more or less open land, with Asteraceae , Boraginaceae , Fabaceae and Lamiaceae ( Ornosa & Ortiz-Sánchez 2004) .

It is a rare subspecies that in recent samplings has not been located in the Pyrenees ( Table 3 ), pointing to its declining poor state of conservation in this area. Only one recent record has been counted in the Cantabrian Range on Echium plantagineum (Nox.) (León: Maraña, 1275 m, 20-VI-2008, 1 queen, C. Ornosa leg., UCME).