Bombus (Subterraneobombus) borealis Kirby, 1837

Bombus (Subterraneobombus) borealis Kirby, 1837 View in CoL

Northern Amber Bumble Bee

Notes: Until recently, this northern bumble bee was known from Connecticut only from a single female collected on 12 August 1932 in Falls Village (Litchfield County) by J. P. Johnson. Surprisingly, two females were collected on 26 June 2010 in Suffield (Hartford County) by R. Ferreira, who noticed a nest entrance under a piece of plywood on a dry, grassy berm near shrubs in a fallow field. Richardson et al. (2018) found that B. borealis has a significant positive correlation with grass and shrub habitat. The recent records and nest location constitute a new southernmost range extension in New England for this boreal bee, and records for this species in southern, warmer regions of Vermont appear to have increased in recent decades (S. Hardy pers. comm.). This is an exception to the most recent works by Kerr et al. (2015) and Soroye et al. (2020) that predict northern bumble bee species to be receding as the climate warms .

Material examined. Hartford Co.: Suffield : “ DEEP property, Babs Road”, 26 June 2010, coll. R . Ferreira , 2 ♀, CAES , det. T. A. Zarrillo 2020, UCMS _ ENT 00077809 View Materials , UCMS _ ENT 00077810 View Materials ; Litchfield Co.: Canaan : “Falls Village”, 12 August 1932, coll. J.P. Johnson, 1 ♀, CAES, det. J.S. Ascher 2008, UCMS _ ENT 00028388 View Materials .

Subgenus Thoracobombus Dalla Torre