Journal
APIDOLOGIE
Volume 44, Issue 2, Pages 121-132Publisher
SPRINGER FRANCE
DOI: 10.1007/s13592-012-0161-x
Keywords
bumblebee; Bombus; barcode; taxonomy; conservation
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Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- President Grants for State Support of Young Scientists in the Russian Federation [MK-5168.2012.4]
- Canadian Barcode of Life Network
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Bombus cullumanus s. str. has attracted some of the greatest conservation concerns among bumblebees in Europe because it might now be extinct. However, there has been long-standing disagreement about whether it is conspecific with other eastern pale-banded bumblebees. We investigate these relationships using new data from DNA (COI) barcodes. The results support a Nearctic rufocinctus-group (Bombus rufocinctus) and a Palaearctic cullumanus-group, the latter with just three species: Bombus semenoviellus, Bombus unicus and B. cullumanus s. l. (including several differently coloured taxa). We conclude that, although any persisting B. cullumanus cullumanus s. str. might be a regional conservation priority within Europe, nevertheless, because the species remains common elsewhere within its range in Asia, globally a higher conservation priority should be given to B. unicus, which is genetically more distinct and appears to have a much smaller population in the Russian Far East.
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