Bombus neoboreus Sladen

6. Bombus neoboreus Sladen (Figs. 89‒103, 134, 143, 145, 148) B.<ombus> strenuus Cresson 1863:102 (not of Harris 1776:131, = B. lapidarius (Linnaeus)), type-locality citation ‘Youcon River, Arctic America, and Hudson’s Bay Territory’. Lectotype queen (#4706) by designation of Cresson 1916:131, ANSP examined PW, ‘H. B. T.’ [Hudson Bay Territory] (? Nunavut, Canada). Bombus neoboreus Sladen 1919:28, type-locality citation ‘Bernard harbour, Northwest Territories’. Lectotype queen (#4406) by designation of Milliron 1973:110, CNC examined PW, ‘Bernard / Harbour’ (formerly NWT, now Nunavut, Canada). Synonymised with Megabombus strenuus (Cresson) by Milliron 1973:108). [Bombus neoboreus (strenuous) Cresson; Kearns & Thomson 2001:97, incorrect subsequent spelling.] Taxonomy and variation. Bombus neoboreus has long been treated as including B. kluanensis but has been recognized as separate from evidence of a species coalescent in the COI gene (Williams et al. 2015; Fig. 9), differences in morphology and differences in the PEPCK gene (Williams, Cannings, et al. 2016). Variation in the colour pattern has been illustrated and analysed previously (Williams et al. 2014; Williams et al. 2015). The pale colour pattern B. strenuus Cresson was described as having the hair of the dorsal part of the side of the thorax, the scutellum, and T1‒3 extensively yellow (Figs. 90‒93, 101‒102). This is the most widespread colour pattern of the species. The principal variation is in whether T5 is predominantly orange (Figs. 90, 92‒93, 101‒102) or predominantly black (Fig. 91), although there are usually a few orange hairs present. Later, the darker colour pattern B. neoboreus was described, which has the dorsal part of the side of the thorax, the scutellum, and T3 extensively black (Figs. 94‒100, 103). The darkest females have the top of the head, side of the thorax, scutellum, middle third of T1, and T3‒5 black (Fig. 97). There are especially many individuals of the dark colour pattern neoboreus s. str. in collections from Nunavut: near Coppermine, Bernard Harbour, and Kugluktuk. They are superficially similar to some B. polaris, but are slightly larger, with shorter hair, have a longer oculomalar distance, and have a smoother shinier outer corbicular surface of the hind tibia. Individuals with both colour patterns (the pale strenuus and the dark neoboreus s. str.) co-occur at Kluane (Yukon) and at Coppermine (Nunavut) and there are no diagnostic differences in their COI barcodes. Material examined. 58 queens 104 workers 100 males (plus 5 females with caste undetermined), from the USA and Canada (Fig. 89: AMNH ANSP CNC INHS NHMUK NMNH PCYU PR PW RBCM RSKM RSM UAM YPM), with 15 specimens barcoded. A record of a queen from a site on Vancouver Island (#4298) was noted by Milliron (1973) as needing confirmation. The specimen (CNC) is correctly identified, but the site is unexpectedly far south for this species and at low elevation, apparently in unusual forest habitat for this species (cf. the Maxent climatic suitability model in Fig. 7), so the specimen may have been mislabelled. Habitat and distribution. Flower-rich arctic/alpine tundra in the New World tundra excluding Greenland, north to Prince Patrick Island and east to Victoria Island, extending southwards into the subarctic region in the alpine zone of the Alaskan and Yukon mountains. Regional distribution maps (Milliron 1973; Williams et al. 2014). Food plants. Unknown. Behaviour. Unknown. Conservation status. This species has not yet been fully assessed for Red List threat status using IUCN criteria (2001). Hatfield et al. (2016c) have listed B. neoboreus as ‘Data deficient’. Their data appear to include data for B. kluanensis.

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