''Bombus balteatus'', the golden-belted bumble bee, is a species of

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

with a boreal and high altitude distribution in northern Eurasia and North America.

Range and distribution

This species is found in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, northern Sweden, Russia, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from arctic

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, Canada, and mountain ranges in the United States such as the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

and the White Mountains down south to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. Their preferred habitat includes high altitude and boreal regions, and they are often found at higher elevations than the tree line. ''Bombus balteatus'' is often most abundant where ''

Castilleja ''Castilleja'', commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one ...

'', '' Chrysothammnus'', and ''

Mertensia ''Mertensia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. They are perennial herbaceous plants with blue or sometimes white flowers that open from pink-tinged buds. Such a change in flower color is common in Boraginaceae and is ca ...

'' plant species are common. Some populations of bees, including in the Rocky Mountains, specifically

Mount Evans Mount Evans is the highest peak in the Mount Evans Wilderness in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent 14,271-foot (4,350 m) fourteener is located southwest by south ( bearing 214°) of Idaho Springs in Clear C ...

Niwot Ridge Niwot Ridge is an alpine ecology research station located 65 km north-west of Denver in north-central Colorado. It is on the Front Range of the southern Rocky Mountains and lies within the Roosevelt National Forest. Niwot Ridge is high. Chara ...

and Pennsylvania Mountain have declined in the 21st century.

Morphology

''Bombus balteatus'' is a long-tongued bumblebee. Often the tongue length reaches two-thirds or more the length of the body. This morphological feature allows them to specialize on flowers with long corollas. In North America, workers can be identified by a distinctive black abdomen pattern and robust body.

Systematics

The most closely related species are ''

Bombus hyperboreus ''Bombus hyperboreus'' is a species of Arctic bumblebee with a circumpolar distribution. The species is primarily found in the arctic areas of Greenland, northern Scandinavia, and Russia. In 2015 the nearctic species, '' Bombus natvigi'', was sep ...

'', '' Bombus frigidus'', and ''

Bombus mixtus ''Bombus mixtus'' is a species of bumblebee. It is native to western North America, where it occurs in western Canada and the United States. It is also disjunct in the Great Lakes region.Hatfield, R., et al. 2014''Bombus mixtus''.The IUCN Red Li ...

'', which all occur in Western North America and Arctic Europe.

Effects of climate change

In the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, USA, many native plants species include flowers with elongated corollas. With abundant resources, ''B. balteatus'' can be a dominant species in the ecosystem. However, Rocky Mountain bumblebees, including ''B. balteatus'' and '' Bombus sylvicola'', have shown changes in abundance and foraging range as long-tubed floral resources are declining at higher altitudes; they have also exhibited a trend towards shorter tongues over the last 40 years. This is indicative of

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

expansion; although this species of bumblebee is considered highly specialized, it is now adapting to forage on a broader range of morphologically diverse flowering plants. Immigration by short-tongued bumble bees into higher altitudes, as well as an increase in the number of ''Bombus balteatus'' individuals with shorter tongues, has also occurred as a result of warming and climate change. This creates new competition for long-tongued ''B. balteatus'' for limited floral resources.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2629478 Bumblebees Insects described in 1832 Hymenoptera of Europe Hymenoptera of North America Insects of the Arctic