Local fauna of bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus Latr.) in the outskirts of the town of Kandalaksha, southwest Kola Peninsula

Grigory Potapov,Yulia Kolosova,Alisa Vlasova

doi:10.3897/issn2541-8416.2018.18.2.62

Abstract

This article presents the results of research focussed on the local bumblebee fauna in the southwest of the Kola Peninsula (near the town of Kandalaksha). In general, if we include the published data, the local fauna have 16 species of bumblebees. Among the species of the present study, the recent record for this region isBombuswurfleniiRadoszkowski, 1860. This species was previously unknown in the European North of Russia. It is typical for mountain ecosystems in Europe (Scandinavia, the mountains of Central and Western Europe, the Balkans, Northern Turkey and the Caucasus). We assume that the record ofB.wurfleniion the Kola Peninsula is the recent appearance of this species in the region. One of the possible reasons for the expansion of this species is climate change. Other species of bumblebees in the local fauna are typical for the region. The species present wide ranges, i.e., Transpalaearctic, Holarctic and one species of West-Central Palaearctic. In the outskirts of Kandalaksha, there are 2 species (B.distinguendusMorawitz, 1869 andB.veteranus(Fabricius, 1793)) which belong to the group of meadow species according to their habitat preference. They are not common for the taiga habitats in the European North of Russia. We can explain their presence in the local fauna by noting the presence of anthropogenic meadow habitats in the studied area.

Highlights

This article presents the results of research focussed on the local bumblebee fauna in the southwest of the Kola Peninsula
Arctic Environmental Research 18(2): 62–65 first half of the 20th century, a large amount of material was collected in the Murmansk Region, mainly covering the territories along the coast of the Barents Sea from the northeast of the Kola Peninsula to the Norwegian border and the Khibiny Mountains
The specimens of bumblebees are deposited in the Russian Museum of the Biodiversity Hotspots (RMBH), Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research (FCIARctic), Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Arkhangelsk, Russia

Summary

Introduction

This article presents the results of research focussed on the local bumblebee fauna in the southwest of the Kola Peninsula (near the town of Kandalaksha). Arctic Environmental Research 18(2): 62–65 first half of the 20th century, a large amount of material was collected in the Murmansk Region, mainly covering the territories along the coast of the Barents Sea from the northeast of the Kola Peninsula to the Norwegian border and the Khibiny Mountains These materials are presented in the papers of Løken (1973, 1984), Pekkarinen et al (1981), and Söderman and Leinonen (2003). Despite the long history of research of the bumblebee fauna in this region, a number of the territories remain poorly studied, primarily the southwestern part of the Kola Peninsula In this regard, we conducted the field research on the outskirts of the town of Kandalaksha in order to obtain additional data on the bumblebee fauna. The territories of Northern Europe are especially interesting, because here we can observe the northwards expansion of a number of species

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