Colour patterns, distribution and food plants of the Asian bumblebee Bombus bicoloratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Bombus bicoloratus is an important pollinator of wild flowers in the oriental region. We confirmed a total of 451 specimens of B. bicoloratus from China based on DNA sequences from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes. Bombus bicoloratus is distributed mainly in tropical and sub...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Apidologie 2019-07, Vol.50 (3), p.340-352
Main Authors: Ding, Guiling, Zhang, Shiwen, Huang, Jiaxing, Naeem, Muhammad, An, Jiandong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Bombus bicoloratus
Bumblebees
Color
Cytochrome
Cytochromes
DNA barcoding
Entomology
Females
Flowers
Food plants
Gene sequencing
Irradiance
Life Sciences
Males
Mitochondrial DNA
Nectar
Nucleotide sequence
Original Article
Pollen
Pollinators
Polymorphism
Spatial distribution
Species
Workers
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Summary:Bombus bicoloratus is an important pollinator of wild flowers in the oriental region. We confirmed a total of 451 specimens of B. bicoloratus from China based on DNA sequences from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes. Bombus bicoloratus is distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical areas of southern China. This species exhibits a striking intraspecific colour-pattern polymorphism both in females and males. The distribution frequency of the different colour patterns is heavily skewed, with 50.9% of the workers sharing the same colour pattern that predominates in most locations. Workers from the islands of Hainan and Taiwan possess a very distinct colour pattern, and its spatial distribution is correlated with the climate factor irradiance. Bombus bicoloratus has been recorded to collect nectar and pollen from 14 plant families, indicating that this species is polylectic. This study will be helpful for recognising bumblebee species with variable colour patterns, especially B. bicoloratus , in Asia.
ISSN:0044-8435
1297-9678
DOI:10.1007/s13592-019-00648-1