List of bumblebee species explained

The list presented here is a checklist of global bumblebee^[1] species (Tribe Bombini) based on the Bombus phylogeny presented by Cameron et al (2007)^[2] and grouped by subgenus following the revision of Williams et al (2008).^[3] The bumblebee fossil record extends back to the Late Eocene in North America and England with the most diversity of fossils found during the Miocene. The fossil species were discussed and revised by Dehon et al (2019).

Genus Bombus

Subgenus Alpigenobombus

Subgenus Alpinobombus

Bombus alpinus
Bombus balteatus – golden-belted bumble bee
Bombus hyperboreus
Bombus kirbiellus
Bombus kluanensis
Bombus natvigi
Bombus neoboreus
Bombus polaris
Bombus pyrrhopygus

Subgenus Bombias

Bombus auricomus – black-and-gold bumble bee
Bombus confusus
Bombus nevadensis – Nevada bumble bee

Subgenus Bombus (sensu stricto)

Bombus affinis – rusty-patched bumble bee
Bombus cryptarum – cryptic bumble bee
Bombus franklini – Franklin's bumblebee (extremely rare or possibly extinct)
Bombus hypocrita
Bombus ignitus
Bombus jacobsoni
Bombus lantschouensis
Bombus longipennis
Bombus lucorum – white-tailed bumblebee
Bombus magnus – northern white-tailed bumblebee
Bombus minshanicus
Bombus occidentalis^[4] – western yellow-banded bumble bee
Bombus patagiatus
Bombus sporadicus
Bombus terrestris – buff-tailed bumblebee or large earth bumblebee
Bombus terricola – yellow-banded bumble bee
Bombus tunicatus

Subgenus Cullumanobombus

Bombus baeri
Bombus brachycephalus
Bombus coccineus – scarlet-tailed bumble bee
Bombus crotchii – Crotch's bumble bee
Bombus cullumanus – Cullum's humble-bee or Cullum's bumblebee
Bombus ecuadorius
Bombus fraternus – southern plains bumble bee
Bombus funebris – mourning bee
Bombus griseocollis – brown-belted bumble bee
Bombus handlirschi
Bombus haueri
Bombus hortulanus
Bombus macgregori
Bombus melaleucus
Bombus morrisoni – Morrison's bumblebee
†Bombus pristinus – Middle- Late Miocene, Kumi Formation, Euboea, Greece
† Bombus randeckensis^[5]
Bombus robustus
Bombus rohweri
Bombus rubicundus
Bombus rufocinctus – red-belted bumble bee
Bombus semenoviellus
†Bombus trophonius^[6]
Bombus tucumanus
Bombus unicus
Bombus vogti

Subgenus Kallobombus

Bombus soroeensis – broken-belted bumblebee

Subgenus Megabombus

Bombus argillaceus
Bombus bicoloratus
Bombus consobrinus
Bombus czerskii
Bombus diversus
Bombus gerstaeckeri
Bombus hortorum – (small) garden bumblebee
Bombus irisanensis
Bombus koreanus
Bombus longipes
Bombus melanopoda (extremely rare or possibly extinct)
Bombus portchinsky
Bombus religiosus
Bombus ruderatus – large garden bumblebee
Bombus saltuarius
Bombus securus
Bombus senex
Bombus supremus
Bombus sushkini
Bombus tichenkoi
Bombus trifasciatus
Bombus ussurensis

Subgenus Melanobombus

Bombus alagesianus^[7]
†Bombus cerdanyensis - Late Miocene, Bellver de Cerdanya, Spain^[8] ^[5]
Bombus erzurumensis^[9]
Bombus eurythorax^[7]
Bombus eximius
Bombus festivus
Bombus formosellus
Bombus friseanus
Bombus incertoides^[7]
Bombus incertus
Bombus keriensis
Bombus ladakhensis
Bombus lapidarius – red-tailed bumblebee
Bombus miniatus
Bombus prshewalskyi^[7]
Bombus pyrosoma
Bombus qilianensis^[7]
Bombus richardsiellus
Bombus rufipes
Bombus rufofasciatus
Bombus semenovianus
Bombus sichelii
Bombus simillimus
Bombus tanguticus
Bombus tibeticus^[7]

Subgenus Mendacibombus

Bombus avinoviellus
†Bombus beskonakensis (Miocene, Bes Konak paleolake, Turkey)
Bombus convexus
Bombus handlirschianus
Bombus himalayanus
Bombus makarjini
Bombus margreiteri
Bombus marussinus
Bombus mendax
Bombus superbus
Bombus turkestanicus
Bombus waltoni

Subgenus Orientalibombus

Bombus braccatus
Bombus funerarius
Bombus haemorrhoidalis

Subgenus †Paraelectrobombus

†Bombus patriciae - Late Oligocene/Early Miocene, BesKonak paleolake, Ankara, Turkey^[5]

Subgenus Psithyrus

Bombus ashtoni – Ashton cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus barbutellus – Barbut's cuckoo-bee
Bombus bellardii
Bombus bohemicus – Gypsy's cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus branickii
Bombus campestris
Bombus chinensis
Bombus citrinus – lemon cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus coreanus
Bombus cornutus
Bombus expolitus
Bombus ferganicus
Bombus fernaldae – Fernald's cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus flavidus
Bombus insularis – indiscriminate cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus maxillosus
Bombus monozonus
Bombus morawitzianus
Bombus norvegicus
Bombus novus
Bombus perezi
Bombus quadricolor
Bombus rupestris
Bombus skorikovi
Bombus suckleyi – Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus sylvestris – forest cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus tibetanus
Bombus turneri
Bombus variabilis – variable cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus vestalis – vestal cuckoo bumble bee

Subgenus Pyrobombus

Bombus abnormis
Bombus ardens
Bombus avanus
Bombus beaticola
Bombus bifarius – two-form bumble bee
Bombus bimaculatus – two-spotted bumble bee
Bombus biroi
Bombus brodmannicus
Bombus caliginosus – obscure bumble bee
Bombus centralis^[10] – Great Basin bumble bee
Bombus cingulatus – small tree bumble bee
Bombus cockerelli – Cockerell's bumble bee
Bombus ephippiatus
Bombus flavescens
Bombus flavifrons – yellow-fronted bumble bee
Bombus frigidus – frigid bumble bee
Bombus haematurus
Bombus huntii – Hunt's bumble bee
Bombus hypnorum – tree bumble bee
Bombus impatiens – common eastern bumble bee
Bombus infirmus
Bombus infrequens
Bombus johanseni
Bombus jonellus – small heath bumble bee
Bombus kotzschi
Bombus lapponicus
Bombus lemniscatus
Bombus lepidus
Bombus luteipes
Bombus melanopygus^[11] – black-tailed bumble bee
Bombus mirus
Bombus mixtus – fuzzy-horned bumble bee
Bombus modestus
Bombus monticola – bilberry bumble bee
Bombus oceanicus
Bombus parthenius
Bombus perplexus – perplexing bumble bee, confusing bumble bee
Bombus picipes
Bombus pratorum – early bumble bee
Bombus pressus
Bombus pyrenaeus
Bombus rotundiceps
Bombus sandersoni – Sanderson bumble bee^[12]
Bombus sitkensis – Sitka bumble bee
Bombus sonani
Bombus subtypicus
Bombus sylvicola – forest bumble bee
Bombus ternarius – tricolored bumble bee, orange-belted bumble bee
Bombus vagans – half-black bumble bee
Bombus vancouverensis
Bombus vandykei – Van Dyke's bumble bee
Bombus vosnesenskii – yellow-faced bumble bee
Bombus wilmattae

Subgenus Sibiricobombus

Bombus asiaticus
Bombus morawitzi
Bombus niveatus
Bombus oberti
Bombus obtusus
Bombus sibiricus
Bombus sulfureus

Subgenus Subterraneobombus

Bombus amurensis
Bombus appositus – mountain bumble bee
Bombus borealis – northern amber bumble bee
Bombus difficillimus
Bombus distinguendus
Bombus fedtschenkoi
Bombus fragrans
Bombus melanurus
Bombus mongolensis
Bombus personatus
Bombus subterraneus – short-haired bumble bee

Subgenus Thoracobombus

Bombus anachoreta
Bombus armeniacus – Armenian bumble bee
Bombus atripes
Bombus bahiensis
Bombus bellicosus
Bombus brasiliensis
Bombus brevivillus
Bombus californicus
Bombus dahlbomii
Bombus deuteronymus
Bombus digressus
Bombus diligens
Bombus excellens
Bombus exil
Bombus fervidus – yellow bumble bee, golden northern bumble bee
Bombus filchnerae
Bombus hedini
Bombus honshuensis
Bombus humilis – brown-banded carder bee
Bombus imitator
Bombus impetuosus
Bombus inexspectatus
Bombus laesus
Bombus medius
Bombus mesomelas
Bombus mexicanus
Bombus mlokosievitzii
Bombus morio
Bombus mucidus
Bombus muscorum – large carder bee or moss carder bee
Bombus opifex
Bombus opulentus
Bombus pascuorum – common carder bee
Bombus pauloensis^[13]
Bombus pensylvanicus – American bumble bee
Bombus persicus
Bombus pomorum – apple humble-bee
Bombus pseudobaicalensis
Bombus pullatus
Bombus remotus
Bombus rubriventris (probably extinct)
Bombus ruderarius – red-shanked carder bee or red-shanked bumble bee
Bombus schrencki
Bombus sonorus – Sonoran bumble bee
Bombus steindachneri
Bombus sylvarum – shrill carder bee
Bombus transversalis
Bombus tricornis
Bombus trinominatus
Bombus velox
Bombus weisi
Bombus veteranus
Bombus zonatus

Subgenus incertae sedis

†“Bombus” anacolus - Middle Miocene Shanwang Formation, Shandong Province, China^[5]
†Bombus? crassipes - Late Miocene Krottensee deposits, Czech Republic^[5]
†“Bombus” dilectus - Middle Miocene Shanwang Formation, Shandong Province, China^[5]
†“Bombus” luianus - Middle Miocene Shanwang Formation, Shandong Province, China^[5]
†Bombus proavus - Middle Miocene, Latah Formation, Washington, USA^[5]
†Bombus vetustus - Late Miocene, Botchi Formation, Botchi River, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia^[5]

Genus †Calyptapis

†Calyptapis florissantensis - Late Eocene, Florissant Formation, Colorado

Genus †Oligobombus

†Oligobombus cuspidatus - Late Eocene, Bembridge Marls, Isle of Wight, UK

Notes and References

Williams . P. H. . 1998 . An annotated checklist of bumble bees with an analysis of patterns of description (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombini) . Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, Entomology Series . 67 . 79–152 .
Cameron . S. A. . Hines . H. M. . Williams . P. H. . 2007 . A comprehensive phylogeny of the bumble bees (Bombus) . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . 91 . 161–188 . 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00784.x. free .
Williams . P. H. . Cameron . S. A. . Hines . H. M. . Cederberg . B. . Rasmont . P. . 2008 . A simplified subgeneric classification of the bumblebees (genus Bombus) . 10.1051/apido:2007052 . Apidologie . 39 . 1–29 . 3489618 .
Bombus occidentalis and Bombus terricola are sometimes considered the same species.
Dehon . M. . Engel . M. . Gérard . M. . Aytekin . A. . Ghisbain . G. . Williams . P. . Rasmont . P. . Michez . D. . 2019 . Morphometric analysis of fossil bumble bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombini) reveals their taxonomic affinities . ZooKeys . 891 . 71–118 . 10.3897/zookeys.891.32056 . 1 November 2024 . free.
Prokop . J. . Dehon . M. . Michez . D. . Engel . M. S. . 2017 . An Early Miocene bumble bee from northern Bohemia (Hymenoptera, Apidae) . ZooKeys . 710 . 43–63 . 10.3897/zookeys.710.14714 . 5674177 . 29118643 . 2017ZooK..710...43P . free .
Williams . P. . Altanchimeg . D. . Byvaltsev . A. . De Jonghe . R. . Jaffar . S. . Japoshvili . G. . Kahono . S. . Liang . H. . Mei . M. . Monfared . A. . Nidup . T. . Raina . R. . Ren . Z. . Thanoosing . C. . Zhao . Y. . Orr . M. . 2020 . Widespread polytypic species or complexes of local species? Revising bumblebees of the subgenus Melanobombus world-wide (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombus) . European Journal of Taxonomy . 719 . 1–120 . 10.5852/ejt.2020.719.1107. 224964830 . free .
Dehon . M. . Michez . D. . Nel . A. . Engel . M. S. . De Meulemeester . T. . 2014 . Wing Shape of Four New Bee Fossils (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) Provides Insights to Bee Evolution . PLOS ONE . 9 . 10 . 1–16 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0108865 . 25354170 . 4212905. 2014PLoSO...9j8865D . free .
Web site: Bombus (Melanobombus) erzurumensis (Özbek, 1990) . Pierre Rasmont . A. Murat Aytekin . Osman Kaftanoglu . Didier Flagothier . amp. Université de Mons.
Bombus centralis and Bombus flavifrons are sometimes considered the same species.
Bombus melanopygus has two color forms, one of which was historically treated as a species: Bombus edwardsii.
Miller, Nathan G. (2010). The Bumble Bees of Algonquin Park: A Field Guide. Toronto: Toronto Entomologists' Association. pp.22.
Phylogeny of bumble bees in the New World subgenus Fervidobombus (Hymenoptera: Apidae): congruence of molecular and morphological data. Cameron. S. A.. 24 July 2002. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 28. 3. 552–563. 10.1016/s1055-7903(03)00056-3 . 12927138. 5 November 2015. Williams. P. H..