Bombus Monticola - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

This species was long considered a form of Bombus lapponicus; hovever, it is now divided in a number of subspecies:

• B. monticola monticola, the nominate subspecies, rather darkly coloured and present on the British Islands
• B. monticola scandinavicus, the Scandinavian subspecies, is also a more or less dark form
• B. monticola alpestris, a subspecies present in the Alps and the Balkans
• B. monticola rondoui, living in the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees, and
• B. monticola konradini, living in the Apennines; both are light subspecies with a striking pattern; the thorax is almost zebra-striped in white, black and white.