Bumble Bees

Studies on Scandinavian Bumble Bees101Norwegian and Swedish specimens, comprises,however, 25 individuals from the two northernmostcounties in Norway, i.e. Troms and Finnmark.At least two worker broods raised in eachof the colonies above and the number of workersobserved throughout Scandinavia indicate thatB. alpinus regularly produces worker caste andto the northern limit of its distribution.BOMBUS (ALPINOBOMBUS) ARCTICUSKIRBYBombus arcticas Kirby, 1821, p. ccxvi nec Dahlbom1832 nec Zetterstedt 1838. Type ? BML!,type area Arctic Canada: Boothia.(Bombus arcticzs Kirby; Meidell 1934a, p. 124;Bombus alpinus: Dahlbom 1832, p. 32 (partim);Zetterstedt 1838 (partim); Bombus polarus Curtis,1835, p. lxiii No. 7, type ? BML!, type areaArcticCanada: Boothia. Bombus alpinus var.Thomson 1872. Bombus balteatus var. kirbiellus:Aurivillius 1890, p. 28 nec Curtis 1835. Bombuskirbyellus: Friese 1935 nec Curtis 1835. Bombusalpinus var. diaboliczs Friese, 1911 : 571 No. 21,holotype ? IZB!, type area USSR: Kola pen.Bombus alpinu^s var. pretioszs Friese, 1911, p. 57INo. 22 holotype d IZB! labelled Kirkenes (excoll. Sparre Schneider). The author designatedNorway: Finnmark (Fn): Nordkapp as typelocality cf. below. Bombus arcticus var. alpini'formis Richards, 1931, p. 13, holotype 6 ZMO!,type area Norway: Oppland (On): Dovre;Loken1960; Bergwall 1970. Alpinobombus tristis (SparreSchneider) nomen nudum cf. below; Skorikov1937 . Bombus alpiniformis Richards; Pittioni1939b; Elfving 1960, 1968; Bombus polaris alpiniformisRichards; Kruseman 1959; Ander 1965.Bombus arcticus diabolicus Friese: Lsken 1966a.)only examined one specimen (Friese & Wagnerl9l2). Sparre Schneider communicated livelywith Friese and supplied him with material. Tomy knowledge Sparre Schneider and his colleaguesnever collected in Nordkapp but spentseveral seasons in Sor-Varanger. Though thereare no records from Nordkapp situated at thenorthernmost coast approx. 71" N and roughlyabout 210 km northwest of Kirkenes, the speciesffi&y, however, teach that far north.Alpinobombus tristis is a nomen nudum asSparre Schneider never published the name.First Scandinavian recordsNorway. Finnmark (Fv): Nordkapp (Friese1911) published as B. alpinus var. pretiosus cf.above.Sweden. Lapland (Kruseman 1959), mentionedas Arctic Sweden.Taxonomical remarksThe Scandinavian population is recognized asa subspecies .8. arcticus diabolicus, presenting acolouring of the coat entirely different from thatof the nominate forrn. The latter has pile oncollar, scutellum and Tr-, ochrous-yellow todull yellow, hairs on Tn- u either black or ferruginous,coat otherwise black. The colouringof ,8. arcticus diabolicus is described below.B. alpinus var. pretioszs is revised to an infrasubspecificform of B. arcticus diabolicus. Richards(1931) mentions five workers (Norway: Oppland(On): Dovre TRM) belonging to a black-tailedform, B. arcticus var. friesei Skorikov, 1908,described from Northeast Siberia. The individualswere not traced and other specimens of thisform were not recorded in Scandinavia.Nomenclatural remarksThe type area of ,8. alpinus var. pretioszs beingNordkapp while Kirkenes, i.e. Finnmark (Fo):Scir-Varanger: Kirkenes, the locality written onthe label attached to the holotype, is due toconfusifig topographical information, as FrieseDistributionFennoscandia. Cf. the subspecies.World distribution. Circumpolar. Europe (Fennoscandia;Kola pen. ; Kolguyev) NovayaZemlya Northern Siberia KamchatkaArctic America Greenland (Skorikov 1937).