Notes on the Nesting of Bombus morio (Swederus) (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Extract

This bumblebee is rather common in southeastern Brazil, northern Argentina, and in parts of western South America. However, no detailed specific data have yet been published on its biology or nesting habits.

On November 5, 1955, while searching for bumblebees in Brazil, the writer succeeded in finding a newly established nest of this species about one-fourth mile from rhe coast in Parana, north of Guaratuba near Praia de Leste, some eight miles south of Matinhos. The coastal terrain at that location is somewhat irregular, not exceeding fifty feet in elevation and covered, for the most part, with rather dense, low woody vegetation. Near mid-day, from a vantage point at the side of the only north-south road, I spotted a queen in low direct flight toward a clump of shrubs growing about fifty feet to the west, where she suddenly vanished upon reaching that point. This behaviour instantly meant one of two possibilities–either she had stopped to visit flowers, or she had entered her nest close by.