THE LOCAL FAUNA OF BUMBLEBEES (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) IN THE LOWER REACHES OF THE KEM RIVER, REPUBLIC OF KARELIA

Abstract

The local fauna of bumblebees in the lower reaches of the Kem River is represented by ten species. The bulk of the fauna is species with wide distribution ranges. As regards the longitudinal aspect, the local fauna includes Trans-Palaearctic and Holarctic species, and also a West-Central-Palaearctic species. Latitudinally, a majority of the species are temperate, and the rest are arcto-temperate and boreal. The local fauna is typical of Eastern Fennoscandia. Here, the predominant bumblebee species are those typical of plateau landscapes in the taiga zone of North European Russia. The sample of bumblebees from the lower reaches of the Kem River mostly comprised ubiquitous species. Among them, Bombus cryptarum is the most common in the European North, being present in a majority of bumblebee communities in this region. This species inhabits various types of habitats, including native taiga ecosystems and various types of rude ral and meadow communities. Other ubiquitous species to be mentioned for the lower reaches of the Kem River are B. jonellus and B. pascuorum. These species are mainly typical of insular areas in the White Sea. They inhabit heathlands and birch forests. Only one species in the local fauna of the Kem lower reaches is a meadow species, i. e. B. veteranus. In general, the north of Karelia is characterized by rather low presence of meadow species in bumblebee communities. This is probably due to the rather limited development of the secondary meadow communities in this territory.