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GENUS   Bombus

Author: Latreille, 1802

Type species: Apis terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 monobasic.
Subgenera: Alpigenobombus Skorikov, 1914; Alpinobombus Skorikov, 1914; Bombias Robertson, 1903; Bombus s.str. Latreille, 1802; Cullumanobombus Vogt, 1911; Kallobombus Dalla Torre, 1880; Megabombus Dalla Torre 1880; Melanobombus Dalla Torre, 1880; Mendacibombus Skorikov, 1914; Psithyrus Lepeletier, 1833; Pyrobombus Dalla Torre, 1880; Sibiricobombus Vogt, 1911; Subterraneobombus Vogt, 1911; Thoracobombus Dalla Torre, 1880.
Synonyms: Bremus Jurine, 1801 (invalidated by Commission Opinion 135, 1939); Bremus Panzer, 1804; Alpinibombus Skorikov, 1937; Nevadensibombus Skorikov, 1922; Boopobombus Frison, 1927; Apathus Newman, 1834; Agribombus Skorikov, 1938
Clade: Anthophila
Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Apinae
Tribe: Bombini
Estimated min and max body length from the genus.
Countries with known records of the genus (based on Nieto et al. 2014)
Estimated difficulty to accurately identify a specimen as belonging to this genus.
Distinctive traits
  • Bumblebees.
  • Very stout species, with dense and colourful hairs all over the body.
  • 3 ocelli aligned
  • Presence of an incomplete vein within submarginal cell 1.
Pictures of distinctive traits.
(Sorry, there is no picture available at this time. If you have some and would like to become a contributor to IDmyBee, please contact us.)
Morphologically close genera, and how to distinguish them:
  • Bombus - Anthophora & Habropoda
Bombus species have aligned ocelli, never bear yellow-markings on the face and have a vein half-crossing the 1st submarginal cell.
Anthophora and Habropoda species have non-aligned ocelli, often bear yellow-markings on the face and have no vein half-crossing the 1st submarginal cell.
General comments on Bombus species identification
Bumblebees are common insects, which identification at the genus level is straightforward. However, species identification of Bombus species is deceivingly complicated.
It relies on subtle traits like cuticle punctation and shape of the labrum structure. The numerous convergences in colour pattern among Bombus species and the high intra-specific variation of bumblebee coloration makes colour-based species identification unreliable in most cases
SPECIES IDENTIFICATION TOOL
Sorry, but the species identification tool is not yet available for Bombus. 
Please check the reference(s) at the bottom of the page for traditional keys.

List of the 70 Bombus species found in Europe (UICN 2014 + Rasmont et al. 2017)

Bombus (Alpigenobombus) wurflenii Radoszkowski, 1859
Bombus (Alpinobombus) alpinus (L., 1758)
Bombus (Alpinobombus) balteatus Dahlbom, 1832
Bombus (Alpinobombus) polaris Curtis, 1835
Bombus (Alpinobombus) pyrrhopygus Friese, 1802
Bombus (Bombias) confusus Schenck, 1861
Bombus (Bombus) cryptarum (Fabricius, 1775)
Bombus (Bombus) lucorum (L., 1761)
Bombus (Bombus) magnus Vogt, 1911
Bombus (Bombus) patagiatus Nylander, 1848
Bombus (Bombus) renardi Radoszkowski, 1884
Bombus (Bombus) sporadicus Nylander, 1848
Bombus (Bombus) terrestris (L., 1758)
Bombus (Bombus) xanthopus Kriechbaumer, 1870
Bombus (Cullumanobombus) cullumanus (Kirby, 1802)
Bombus (Cullumanobombus) semenoviellus Skorikov, 1910
Bombus (Kallobombus) soroeensis (Fabricius, 1776)
Bombus (Megabombus) argillaceus Scopoli, 1763
Bombus (Megabombus) consobrinus Dahlbom, 1832
Bombus (Megabombus) gerstaeckeri Morawitz, 1881
Bombus (Megabombus) hortorum (L., 1761)
Bombus (Megabombus) reinigiellus (Rasmont, 1983)
Bombus (Megabombus) ruderatus (Fabricius, 1775)
Bombus (Megabombus) saltuarius (Skorikov, 1923)
Bombus (Melanobombus) lapidarius (L., 1758)
Bombus (Melanobombus) sichelii Radoszkowski, 1859
Bombus (Mendacibombus) mendax Gerstäcker, 1869
Bombus (Psithyrus) barbutellus (Kirby, 1802)
Bombus (Psithyrus) bohemicus Seidl, 1838
Bombus (Psithyrus) campestris (Panzer, 1801)
Bombus (Psithyrus) flavidus Eversmann, 1852
Bombus (Psithyrus) norvegicus (Sparre-Schneider, 1918)
Bombus (Psithyrus) quadricolor (Lepeletier, 1832)
Bombus (Psithyrus) rupestris (Fabricius, 1793)
Bombus (Psithyrus) sylvestris (Lepeletier, 1832)
Bombus (Psithyrus) vestalis (Geoffroy, 1785)



Bombus (Pyrobombus) brodmannicus Vogt, 1909
Bombus (Pyrobombus) cingulatus Wahlberg, 1854
Bombus (Pyrobombus) glacialis Friese, 1902
Bombus (Pyrobombus) haematurus Kriechbaumer, 1870
Bombus (Pyrobombus) hypnorum (L., 1758)
Bombus (Pyrobombus) jonellus (Kirby, 1802)
Bombus (Pyrobombus) konradini Reinig, 1965
Bombus (Pyrobombus) lapponicus (Fabricius, 1793)
Bombus (Pyrobombus) modestus Eversmann, 1852
Bombus (Pyrobombus) monticola Smith, 1849
Bombus (Pyrobombus) pratorum (L., 1761)
Bombus (Pyrobombus) pyrenaeus Pérez, 1879
Bombus (Sibiricobombus) niveatus Kriechbaumer, 1870
Bombus (Subterraneobombus) distinguendus Morawitz, 1869
Bombus (Subterraneobombus) fragrans (Pallas, 1771)
Bombus (Subterraneobombus) subterraneus (L., 1758)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) armeniacus Radoszkowski, 1877
Bombus (Thoracobombus) deuteronymus Schulz, 1879
Bombus (Thoracobombus) humilis Illiger, 1806
Bombus (Thoracobombus) inexspectatus (Tkalcu, 1963)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) laesus Morawitz, 1875
Bombus (Thoracobombus) mesomelas Gerstäcker, 1869
Bombus (Thoracobombus) mlokosievitzii Radoszkowski, 1877
Bombus (Thoracobombus) Mocsáryi Kriechbaumer, 1877
Bombus (Thoracobombus) mucidus Gerstäcker, 1869
Bombus (Thoracobombus) muscorum (L., 1758)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) pascuorum (Scopoli, 1763)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) pereziellus (Skorikov, 1922)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) pomorum (Panzer, 1805)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) ruderarius (Müller, 1776)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) schrencki Morawitz, 1881
Bombus (Thoracobombus) sylvarum (L., 1761)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) veteranus (Fabricius, 1793)
Bombus (Thoracobombus) zonatus Smith, 1854
References with identification keys for some of the species:
  • Pittioni, B. (1939) Die hummeln und Schwarotzerhummeln der Balkan-Halbinsel. Mitteilungen aus den Königl. Naturwissenschaftlichen Instituten, 12: 49 – 115.
  • Løken, A., (1973) Studies on Scandinavian bumble bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Norsk Entomol. Tidsskr., 20: I-218.
  • Løken, A. (1984) Scandinavian species of the genus Psithyrus Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Entomologica Scandinavia (Supplement) 23: 1 – 45.
  • Panfilov, D. V. 1978: (The keys for the species of FamilyApidae – Bees.). — In: Medvedev, G. S. (ed.), (Thekeys for insects of the European part of USSR) 3(1):508–519. Nauka, Leningrad. 584 pp. [In Russian.]
  • Rasmont, P. 1984: Les bourdons du genre Bombus Latreille sensu stricto en Europe occidentale et central. Spixiana 7: 135–160.
  • Rasmont, P., Scholl, A., De Jonghe, R., Obrecht, E., & Adamski, A. (1986). Identité et variabilité des mâles de bourdons du genre Bombus Latreille sensu stricto en Europe occidentale et centrale (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombinae). Revue suisse de Zoologie, 93(3), 661-682.
  • Amiet, F., 1996. Hymenoptera, Apidae. 1. Allgemeiner Teil, Gattungsschlüssel, die Gattungen Apis, Bombus und Psithyrus. - Insecta Helvetica, Fauna 12: 98 p
  • Falk S.J. (2015) Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury wildlife guides. 432
Online resources:
Bumble Key (Italy)
Atlas hymenoptera (Europe & Belgium)
BWARS (UK)
Discover Life (World)
WestPalBees (West Palearctic)
Page contributors:
  • Adrien Perrard (Dec. 2019)

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References used to write this page:
  • Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World, 2nd Edition. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
  • Michez D., Rasmont P., Terzo, M., Vereecken, N. 2019. Abeilles d'Europes. Hymenoptères d'Europes, Volume 1. N.A.P. Editions.
  • Nieto, A., Roberts, S. P., Kemp, J., Rasmont, P., Kuhlmann, M., García Criado, M., ... & Michez, D. 2014. European red list of bees. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union, 98.
  •  Rasmont, P., Devalez, Jelle, Pauly, A., Michez, D. & Radchenko, V.G. 2017. Addition to the checklist of IUCN European wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Annales de la Société entomologique de France 53: 17-32.

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