Bombus mocsaryi Kriechbaumer 1877

Bombus mocsaryi Kriechbaumer, 1877

Bombus mocsaryi is a wooded-steppes species that is spread throughout dry grasslands in Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula, the south of France, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, central Russia until central Asia to the east, and in the north of Africa. In this area it spreads from 690 to 1800 m (Ornosa & Ortiz- Sánchez 2004).

At present, in the Pyrenees, it has been collected between 1138 and 1500 m, on Centaurea scabiosa L., Echium plantagineum (Nox.), Melilotus officinalis L, Reseda lutea L., Rubus ulmifolius Schott, Taraxacum officinale Wigg. and Trifolium pratense L. However, at inner territories of the Iberian Peninsula it was located at lower altitudes (Spain: Cantabria: Áliva, 1050 m, 17-VI-2006, 1 queen, C. Ornosa leg; Valladolid: Fuensaldaña, 710 m, 26-VI-2010, 1 queen, C. Ornosa leg; Villaibañez, 700 m, 26-VI-2010, 2 queens, C. Ornosa leg; UCME), on Vicia sp. Rasmont et al. (2015) also placed old records of Bombus mocsary at the eastern Pyrenees, where it has not been found now.

According to the current data, the elevational range of this species has greatly reduced (Fig. 7) in the Pyrenees, where its population is quite scarce (Table 2). Bombus mocsary has been assessed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of European Bees (Rasmont et al. 2015).

New records. Spain: Huesca: Benasque, 15-VII-2011, 10 workers, C. Ornosa leg., UCME; Canfranc, railway station, 3-VII-2006, 1 worker, C. Ornosa leg., UCME; Chía, Mirador, Valle de Benasque, 14-VII-2011, 3 workers, C. Ornosa leg., UCME; San Nicolás de Bujaruelo, 9-VIII-2014, 1 worker, P. De la Rúa leg., UMU; Selva de Oza, Aguas Tortas track, 10-VII-2009, 2 workers, C. Ornosa leg., UCME.