The Bombini are a tribe of large bristly apid bees which feed on

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametop ...

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualist ...

. Many species are social, forming nests of up to a few hundred individuals; other species, formerly classified as ''

Psithyrus Cuckoo bumblebees are members of the subgenus ''Psithyrus'' in the bumblebee genus ''Bombus''. Until recently, the 28 species of ''Psithyrus'' were considered to constitute a separate genus. They are a specialized socially parasitic lineage whi ...

'' cuckoo bees, are

brood parasite Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were it ...

s of nest-making species. The tribe contains a single living genus, ''

Bombus 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 genera ...

'', the bumblebees, and some extinct genera such as ''

Calyptapis ''Calyptapis'' is an extinct bombini genus related to bumblebees with one described species ''Calyptapis florissantensis''. It is known only from the Late Eocene Chadronian age shales of the Florissant Formation in Colorado. the genus and specie ...

'' and ''

Oligobombus ''Oligobombus'' is an extinct genus of bumblebee relatives in the tribe Bombini, containing the single species ''Oligobombus cuspidatus''. The genus and species were described by Antropov (2014) based on a single fore-wing from the Late Eocene ...

''. The tribe was described by

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained his freedom ...

in 1802.

Fossils

Dehon et al 2019 Zookeys Fig1-A Oligobombus cuspidatus

'' Bombus cerdanyensis'' was described from Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

lacustrine A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

beds of La Cerdanya, Spain in 2014. ''

Calyptapis florissantensis ''Calyptapis'' is an extinct bombini genus related to bumblebees with one described species ''Calyptapis florissantensis''. It is known only from the Late Eocene Chadronian age shales of the Florissant Formation in Colorado. the genus and species ...

'' was described by

Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell (1866–1948) was an American zoologist, born at Norwood, England, and brother of Sydney Cockerell. He was educated at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, and then studied botany in the field in Colorado in 188 ...

in 1906 from the Chadronian (

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

) lacustrine – large shale of Florissant in the US. ''

Oligobombus cuspidatus ''Oligobombus'' is an extinct genus of bumblebee relatives in the tribe Bombini, containing the single species ''Oligobombus cuspidatus''. The genus and species were described by Antropov (2014) based on a single fore-wing from the Late Eocene B ...

'' was described by Antropov ''et al'' (2014) from the

Late Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

Insect Bed of the

Bembridge Marls The Bouldnor Formation is a geological formation in the Hampshire Basin of southern England. It is the youngest formation of the Solent Group and was deposited during the uppermost Eocene and lower Oligocene. Stratotype and occurrence The Bo ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

, England. The holotype fossil was described by re-examining a specimen in the Smith Collection.

References

Sources

* C. D. Michener (2000) ''The Bees of the World'', Johns Hopkins University Press. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1239779 Apinae Bee tribes