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Photo#56430
Bombus? - Bombus vagans

Bombus? - Bombus vagans
The Goulds, Northeast Avalon, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada
June 7, 2006
Size: Estimate 20 mm
This bee was landing on dandelions alongside a little-used gravel road. It was about 1:00 PM. It would stop at some of the flowers longer than others. I'd estimate that about 1 minute was its longest stop. I submitted a bee photo before that was identified as a Bombus Queen but this bee looks different to me. Can anyone identify it?

Images of this individual: tag all
Bombus? - Bombus vagans Bombus? - Bombus vagans - female Bombus? - Bombus vagans

Moved
Moved from Bombus vagans.

Moved
Moved from Bumble Bees.

Bombus (Pyrobombus) vagans bolsteri Franklin, 1913
subspecies endemic to Newfoundland

 
Moved to B. vagans
Thank you for this information. It's very interesting. I've moved these images to B. vagans.  I see that the ANS website says that what is now:Bombus vagans Smith, 1854, was originally Bombus bolsteri, Franklin, 1913 and that the 1907 specimen used by Franklin was collected at the Bay of Islands, Newfoundland.

 
bolsteri is still considered
a valid subspecies...by those who believe in subspecies

 
Thanks for the Clarification
Thank you for your additional post. I'm only a hobbyist, so I don't understand all the details of taxonomy. Does this mean that bugguide should have a subspecies classification page below B. vegans to accomate this image of B. vagans bolsteri?

 
that would be useful
in any case it is a visually distinctive population and of historical interest too so likely worthy of its own entry

 
couldn't this be sandersoni?
the heavy black band on thorax... not typical of normal vagans... is bolsteri different?

 
the heavy black band on the thorax
is why it was named as a new taxon bolsteri. This is the distinguishing feature from (most) typical vagans. I've seen vagans in Maine with rather heavy black thoracic bands too but not to this extreme. As far as I know sandersoni is not known from the island of Newfoundland (although I have seen what I regard as vagans bolsteri det. as sandersoni) and I'm not certain of the status of sandersoni in Labrador.

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