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Bombus caliginosus (Frison, 1927)
Bremus caliginosus Frison, 1927; Bremus caliginosus var tardus Frison, 1927

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Apidae   Bombus
Subgenus: Pyrobombus




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See
IDnature guides
Index
Williams, Paul H., Robbin W. Thorp, Leif L. Richardson, and Sheila R. Colla. Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wpzr9.


- has the best modern color guides for identification of both sexes, microscopic identification characters, range and natural history notes.

Gives a common name of Obscure Bumble Bee.

Overview
Extracted from Jonathan Koch, James Strange, Paul Williams.2012. Bumble Bees of the Western United States. A product of the U.S. Forest Service and the Pollinator Partnership with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Status: Uncommon

Select food plant genera: Baccharis, Cirsium, Lupinus, Lotus, Grindelia, Phacelia

Tongue Length: Medium

Distribution: Coastal areas from northern Washington to southern California

Easily confused for B. vosnesenskii or B. vandykei

Females (queens and workers, colors refer to hair) Thorax anterior to black band between wing bases yellow, scutellum black, T1-3 black, T4 yellow, T5 and T6 black, S3* and S4 with long yellow hairs apically, face square.

Mid leg basitarsus with the distal posterior corner rounded. Cheek length as long as broad. Hair of the face and top of head yellow. On the side of the thorax, the lower anterior surface with predominantly black hair, corbicular fringes black. Hair length medium and uneven.

*S refers to the sternites of the bumble bee, which are found on the ventral side of the abdomen. They are analogous to the tergites (i.e. T1) that are found on the dorsal side of the abdomen. Therefore S3 translates to sternite 3. See page 26 for an example of this color character.

Identification
Extracted from Bumble Bees and Cuckoo Bumble Bees of California by Thorp, R. (1983).


Discussion. B. caliginosus belongs to the species group which includes B. centralis, /Javtfrons, and vandykei, and appears most closely related to B. vandykei. It differs from the California female color form of B. vandykei in the placement of the yellow hair band on the metasoma. In B. caliginosus, the yellow is on the apical half of tergite 4, while in B. vandykei it is on the apex of tergite 3. The pre-dominantly black males of B. caliginosus are dis-tinct from the predominantly yellow males of B. vandykei (cf. Figs. 115 and 124a).
This species exhibits little color variation. One male was described as a new variety (tardus) by Frison (1927b) because it lacked the yellow band on the metasoma. No further specimens of this color variant have been seen, and it was synonymized by Stephen (1957).
An arboreal nest of this species from Berkeley was described by Pitelka (1954). Johansen (1967) noted the similarity of B. cattginosus nests in Washington to those of B. mixtus. We have taken a surface nest in a garage in Eureka, Humboldt Co. It was using the cotton stuffing of a hammock stored behind some scrap lumber.

Names
Scientific source:
Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Asparagaceae  Triteleia laxa @ EMEC (1)
Asteraceae  Baccharis douglasii @ BBSL__JPS (1); EMEC_JPS__JPS (1)

Baccharis pilularis @ BBSL__JPS (11)

Centaurea @ LACM_ENTB (3)

Cirsium arvense @ BBSL (2)

Cirsium sp @ BBSL__OS (2); BBSL (6)

Cirsium @ LACM_ENTB (1)

Cotula @ UCRC_ENT (1)

Grindelia stricta @ BBSL (4)
Boraginaceae  Cryptantha clevelandii @ LACM_ENTB (1)

Phacelia @ AMNH_BEE (1); EMEC (2); EMEC_JPS__JPS (1)
Brassicaceae  Brassica @ EMEC (1)

Cakile maritima @ EMEC (1)
Ericaceae  Arctostaphylos @ AMNH_BEE (1); EMEC (1)

Vaccinium @ EMEC (5)
Fabaceae  Astragalus @ EMEC (1)

Lathyrus odoratus @ BBSL (2)

Lotus @ EMEC (1)

Lupinus arboreus @ BBSL (7)

Lupinus @ EMEC (4)

Trifolium @ EMEC (1)
Freilich, j.  605 @ JRYA__OLYM (2)
Fumariaceae  Ehrendorferia ochroleuca @ EMEC (1)
Herndon, j.d.  1487 @ JRYA__OLYM (1)

1584 @ JRYA__OLYM (1)
Hydrophyllaceae  Eriodictyon californicum @ BBSL__JPS (2)

Phacelia sp @ BBSL__JPS (1)
Lamiaceae  Stachys bullata @ EMEC (1)

Stachys @ EMEC (7)
Oleaceae  Syringa @ AMNH_BEE (2)
Onagraceae  Clarkia concinna @ EMEC (1)

Clarkia unguiculata @ EMEC (1)
Plantaginaceae  Keckiella lemmonii @ LACM_ENTB (3)

Keckiella @ LACM_ENTB (4)
Polygonaceae  Eriogonum @ CSCA (1)
Rhamnaceae  Ceanothus foliosus @ BBSL__JPS (1)

Rhamnus californica @ BBSL__JPS (1); EMEC_JPS__JPS (1)
Rosaceae  Adenostoma fasciculatum @ BBSL__JPS (1)

Rubus allegheniensis @ BBSL (1)

Rubus parviflorus @ EMEC (1)

Rubus @ EMEC (1); LACM_ENTB (1)
Rykken, j.  1487 @ JRYA__OLYM (1)

1509 @ JRYA__OLYM (1)
Salicaceae  Salix @ EMEC (5)
Scrophulariaceae  Mimulus aurantiacus @ BBSL__JPS (2)

Orthocarpus sp @ BBSL__JPS (2)
_  Withheld @ BBSL (34); BBSL__PINN (1)

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