Bombus eximius

Bombus eximius
Side view of a Bombus eximius specimen from Taiwan, by the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Apidae
Subfamily:	Apinae
Tribe:	Bombini
Genus:	Bombus
Subgenus:	Melanobombus
Species:	B. eximius
Binomial name
Bombus eximius (Smith, 1852)[1] Kuatun Wenchow Suifu Yachow Darjeeling Fujieda Chitlong Yunnan Horisha Location data for Bombus eximius[2]

Bombus eximius is a species of bumblebee that belongs to the subgenus Melanobombus in the simplified subgeneric classification.^[3] It is found in the Southern, Eastern and Southeastern parts of the Asian continent.

Characteristics

Face of Bombus eximius

Bombus eximius is a very large species of bumblebee. The queens are 28–29 mm (1.1 in) long, while the female workers are 14–19 mm (0.55–0.75 in) and the male workers 18–19 mm (0.71–0.75 in). The color of the hair on the thorax is black, and that on the mid and hind tibiae and the basitarsus is orange.^[4] The bright coloration has also been described as "yellowish red" (via German: gelblichrot).^[5]

The close-up view of the face of Bombus eximius shows the oculomandibular distance (OMD), i.e., the distance between the compound eye and the mandible, to be 0.9–1.0 times the mandible breadth. The labrum, i.e., lips, have irregular lamella, but are mostly straight. The inner eye margin has scattered large punctures.^[4]

Ecology

The species is relatively uncommon in low altitude areas between 450–1,200 m (1,480–3,940 ft) around the Sichuan basin area.^[4] It has been found in the Himalayan region, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, China (Yunnan, Xizang, Sichuan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou), Taiwan and in Japan.^[2]

References

1. "ITIS Standard Report Page: Bombus eximius". http://www.itis.gov. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved 17 April 2015.
2. "Map of Bombus eximius". Discover Life. The Polistes Corporation. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
3. Williams, Paul H.; Cameron, Sydney A.; Hines, Heather M.; Cederberg, Bjorn; Rasmont, Pierre (2008). "A simplified subgeneric classification of the bumblebees (genusBombus)". Apidologie 39 (1): 46–74. doi:10.1051/apido:2007052. ISSN 0044-8435.
4. Williams, Paul; Tang, Ya; Yao, Jian; Cameron, Sydney (2009). "The bumblebees of Sichuan (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombini)". Systematics and Biodiversity 7 (2): 101–189. doi:10.1017/S1477200008002843. ISSN 1477-2000.
5. Frison, T. H. (1934). "Records and descriptions of Bremus and Psithyrus from Formosa and the Asiatic Mainland". Transactions of the Natural History Society of Formosa 24: 150–185.