Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T15:07:33.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ecology of Species of Bombus Latr. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Southern Alberta. III. Subgenus Cullumanobombus Vogt1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. A. Hobbs
G. A. Hobbs
Affiliation:
Canada Agriculture Research Station, Lethbridge, Alberta
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The subgenus Cullumanobombus is represented by Bombus rufocinctus in the Nearctic region. In southern Alberta, its distribution is confined to the wooded areas. There, it is adaptable in its nest-selecting habits, and establishes nests mostly in June. It made 11.2 ± 1.4 cells in the first brood. In each cell, one egg was laid in the first brood, 4.2 ± 1.2 eggs in the second and third, and 8.2 ± 3.9 in the fourth and later broods.

Queens required about 22 days to rear workers. The second and third broods were usually workers and the fourth and later broods usually males or queens. The workers in a colony varied little in size. The dominant color pattern was B. rufocinctus s. str. This species is a prolific producer of wax.

The queens mated in the morning and hibernated in the afternoon, about an inch deep in the soil.

Many queens invaded other nests of the same species. The natural enemies were the three species of Psithyrus indigenous to the area, the big-headed fly, Physocephala texana, and ants.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 97 , Issue 12 , December 1965 , pp. 1293 - 1302
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1965

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Franklin, H. J. 1913. The Bombidae of the new world. Trans. Amer. ent. Soc. 38: 177–486.Google Scholar
Free, J. B, and Butler, C. G.. 1959. Bumblebees. Collins, London.Google Scholar
Hasselrot, T. B. 1960. Studies on Swedish bumblebees. (Genus Bombus Latr.). Their domestication and biology. Opuscula Ent. Suppl. 17.Google Scholar
Hobbs, G. A. 1964a. Phylogeny of bumble bees based on brood-rearing behaviour. Canad. Ent. 96: 115–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G. A. 1964b. Ecology of species of Bombus Latr. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in southern Alberta. I. Subgenus Alpinobombus Skor. Canad. Ent. 96: 1465–1470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G. A. 1965. Ecology of species of Bombus Latr. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in southern Alberta. II. Subgenus Bombias Robt. Canad. Ent. 97: 120–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G. A., Nummi, W. O. and Virostek, J. F.. 1962. Managing colonies of bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) for pollination purposes. Canad. Ent. 94: 1121–1132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medler, J. T. 1957. Bumblebee ecology in relation to the pollination of alfalfa and red clover. Insectes Sociaux 4: 245–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medler, J. T. 1960. Effectiveness of domiciles for bumblebees. Proc. 1st International Symposium on Pollination, Copenhagen, August, Communication No. 7, Swedish Seed Growers Assoc., pp. 126–133.Google Scholar
Plath, O. E. 1934. Bumblebees and their ways. Macmillan, New York.Google Scholar
Putnam, F. A. 1866. Notes on the habits of some species of bumble bees. Proc. Essex Institute 4: 98–104.Google Scholar
Stephen, W. P. 1957. Bumble bees of Western America. Oregon State College, Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bull. 40.Google Scholar
Yarrow, I. H. H. 1959. The identification of British bumblebees, pp. 173–189. In Free, J. B. and Butler, C. G., Bumblebees. Collins, London.Google Scholar