Original paper
A Survey of the Localities and Food-Plants of the Bumblebees of Iran (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus)
Monfared, Alireza;Talebi, Ali Asghar;Tahmasbi, Gholamhossein;Williams,, Paul H;Ebrahimi, Ebrahim;Taghavi, Abolfazl
published: 2/22/2007
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ArtNo.: ESP146003004004
Abstract
Bumblebees are common in the mountains of Iran and are known to be important pollinators of both native and greenhouse plants. Over the last seventy years, 32 bumblebee species (28 true bumblebees and 4 cuckoo bumblebees) have been reported from Iran. However, most previous collections of bumblebees have concentrated on the Alborz mountains of the north, although bumblebees are also known to inhabit the mountains in the northwest (Sabalan), west (Zagros), and some central parts. Between 2004 2007, bumblebee specimens were collected from all of these mountain regions, and 26 species were recorded. Bombus (Psithyrus) maxillosus Klug 1817 and Bombus (Psithyrus) sylvestris (Lepeletier 1832) are reported from Iran for the first time. A combined list of species with revised interpretations of species and nomenclature is presented, together with localities,elevation ranges,and a list of food plants.
Keywords
Bombus (P) maxillosus (Klug 1817) • Bombus (P) sylvestris (Lepeletier 1832) • Psithyrus • fauna • Iran