Bombus qilianensis Williams & Altanchimeg & Byvaltsev & Jonghe & Jaffar & Japoshvili & Kahono & Liang & Mei & Monfared & Nidup & Raina & Ren & Thanoosing & Zhao & Orr 2020, sp. nov.

Bombus qilianensis Williams sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 66DA4BFF-1258-4B95-9FEC-EE6EE291E317

Figs 16, 157–162, 202, 208, 212

Bombus keriensis (part) – Reinig 1935: 341. — Williams 1998: 134 (non Morawitz, 1887: 199).

This species was treated (implicitly from specimens from its unique known range) as a part of B. keriensis s. lat. (the keriensis -complex) by Reinig (1935), Williams (1991, 1998), and by Williams et al. (2009).

Our PTP analysis (Fig. 10) of coalescents in the COI gene within the keriensis -complex supports six species including B. qilianensis sp. nov., corroborated by differences in morphology and by the absence of a positive divergence-with-distance relationship among them (Fig. 20) (see Divergence and geographical distance, page 12). This is the first time that B. qilianensis sp. nov. is recognised as a separate species.

Bombus qilianensis sp. nov. co-occurs locally with the closely similar B. tibeticus sp. nov. in the eastern Kunlun mountains of the QTP (PW, pers. obs.).

Diagnosis

Within the keriensis -group: female with the clypeus in its central area smooth and shining, with only scattered small punctures; hair in the black band between the wing bases with a few yellow hairs intermixed especially anteriorly near the midline of the scutum and laterally above the tegula; hair on the side of the thorax with the yellow extending usually two thirds of the distance from the wing base to the mid leg base usually with scattered yellow hairs in the lower third; T1–2 yellow, T3 predominantly black, T4–6 orange.

Male with hair on the head yellow except for black on the mandibles and narrowly around the eyes; thoracic dorsum with the narrow black band between the wing bases with many yellow hairs intermixed; side of the thorax predominantly yellow; legs with the long hairs pale, mostly yellow; T1–2 yellow, T3 anteriorly black and posteriorly yellow, T4–7 orange; eye unenlarged relative to female eye.

Etymology

Named after a major feature of the region where it occurs, the Qilian Shan (mountains) of the northeastern QTP. The species epithet is to be treated as a noun in the genitive case.

Material examined

Holotype designation

CHINA • ♀ (worker) pinned (the right front leg is missing); four labels: (1) white printed in black “ CHINA: Qinghai / Burhan Budai Shan/ Qushiang 3373m 22 / 36.0577N, 98.11624E / 16.viii.2013 PH Williams ”; (2) green printed in black “ Melanobombus / ML# 306. det. PHW”; (3) green printed in black “BOLD# BBWP/PHW/ CCDB-1555-H04”; (4) red printed in black “ HOLOTYPE ♀ (w)/ Bombus / qilianensis / Williams, 2019 / det. PH Williams 2019 ”; IOZ (Fig. 208).

Material sequenced (13 specimens)

CHINA – Gansu Province • 1 ♀ (worker); Gaxiu; 34.3986° N, 102.2971° E; 28 Aug. 2009; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 1555B04; PW: ML223 • 1 ♀ (queen); Gansu; 37.8703° N, 101.6696° E; 13 Jul. 2015; BOLD seq: 1555D04; PW: ML247 • 1 ♀ (worker); Labrang; 35.1937° N, 102.5069° E; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 1555H04; PW: ML306. – Qinghai Province • 1 ♀ (worker); Xingfucun; 35.8877° N, 97.8785° E; 10 Aug. 2013; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 1555H05; PW: ML307 • 1 ♀ (worker); Qushiang; 36.0556° N, 98.1170° E; 16 Aug. 2013; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 1555B07; PW: ML226 • 1 ♀ (worker); Kunlun Shan; 35.6920° N, 94.052° E; 13 Aug. 2013; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 1555B08; PW: ML227 • 1 ♂; Liuxiaogou; 36.3717° N, 100.9085° E; 30 Aug. 2010; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 1555E05; PW: ML253 • 1 ♂; Nuogancha; 37.0982° N, 98.8706° E; 31 Aug. 2010; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 6877F10; PW: ML403 • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; BOLD seq: 6880B02; PW: ML486 • 1 ♂; Qushiang; 35.8304° N, 98.0816° E; 16 Aug. 2013; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 6880B01; PW: ML485 • 1 ♂; Ping’an; 36.3594° N, 102.1173° E; 19 Aug. 2013; P. Williams leg.; BOLD seq: 6880B04; PW: ML488. – Sichuan Pronvince • 3 specs; Hongyuan; 32.3282° N, 102.4543° E; Y. Dong leg.; YD seq: DYX16.2, DYX5.4, DYX8.1; YD: ML440 to ML442.

Description

Female (holotype worker)

Habitus illustrated in Fig. 208. Body size medium (body length of queens 18–22 mm, workers 11–14 mm), hair (pubescence) moderately short and even, wings clear. Mandible with the distal notch anterior to the posterior tooth (incisura) very shallow and hardly marked. Oculo-malar area (‘cheek’ sensu Williams et al. 2014; not the gena) of medium length, 1.11× as long as (length measured between the ventral edge of the compound eye and the edge of the malar area at the articulation of the mandible midway between the mandibular condyles) the breadth of the mandible at its base (breadth between and including the mandibular condyles). Clypeus weakly swollen, its raised area nearly flat, the central area with only scattered small punctures, few punctures medially and ventrally adjacent to the labrum. The area between the inner edge of the compound eye and the outer edge of the lateral ocellus occupied in just more than its outer half by a broad band of mostly large punctures, many spaced by more than their own widths, the smaller punctures between the larger punctures more abundant laterally near the eye margin. Mid basitarsus with the distal posterior corner broadly rounded; hind tibia outer surface with a corbicula, the surface sculpturing weakly reticulate so that the surface appears slightly matt; hind basitarsus in the distal three quarters densely covered with short branched decumbent and overlapping hairs with golden reflections; T6 posteriorly truncate and very shallowly divided medially. Colour pattern of the hair of the body predominantly black. Head entirely black except for orange hairs anteriorly on the labrum and some yellow hairs posteriorly on the vertex. Thoracic dorsum with broad anterior and posterior yellow bands of nearly equal breadth, broader than the black band between the wing bases, and without black hairs intermixed, the black band between the wing bases with a few yellow hairs intermixed especially anteriorly near the midline of the scutum and laterally above the tegula; side of the thorax (mesepisternum) in its ventral third black with scattered yellow hairs, in its dorsal two thirds yellow. T1–2 yellow without any black hairs; T3 black with very few isolated yellow hairs laterally; T4–6 entirely orange-red.

Male (ML253)

Body size medium (body length 12–14 mm), hair (pubescence) moderately short and even, wings clear. Colour pattern of the hair of the body predominantly black. Head yellow except for black on the mandibles and narrowly around the eyes. Thoracic dorsum with broad anterior and posterior yellow bands of nearly equal breadth and without black hairs intermixed, the narrow black band between the wing bases with many yellow hairs intermixed; side of the thorax (mesepisternum) predominantly yellow; legs with the long hairs pale, mostly yellow. T1–2 yellow without any black hairs; T3 anteriorly black, posteriorly yellow; T4–7 entirely orange. Genitalia (Fig. 202) with the gonostylus shorter than broad, its inner basal projection reduced to a short stub; volsella with the inner distal corner broadly produced but without a narrow hook.

Global distribution

(Northeast Qinghai-Tibetan-Plateau species) East Asia: CHINA: Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan. (IAR, IOZ, NHMUK, PW, YD.) The species is usually not common (Fig. 212).

Behaviour

Food-plant generalists (Williams et al. 2009; An et al. 2014). The male mate-searching behaviour is expected to resemble the patrolling of B. keriensis s. str.