Systematic Entomology, 40 (-), pp. 881-888.
Lecocq, T., Brasero, N., Martinet, B., Valterová, I., Rasmont, P.
2015
The recent development of integrative taxonomic approach in bumblebees has led to unexpected merging or splitting of several taxa. Here we investigate the taxonomic statuses of one of the most abundant, widespread, and polytypic Palearctic bumblebee: Bombus pascuorum. The latest review of this species includes 24 subspecies. We use (i) an integrative approach based on genetic markers and male chemical reproductive traits and (ii) compared our result with the former classifications. Our result show that all B. pascuorum taxa are conspecific and share the same male chemical reproductive traits. The genetic structure observed in one mitochondrial and two nuclear markers poorly reflect the current subspecific classification. Indeed, the concordance of population genetic differentiation, population geographic distribution, and population colour pattern similarity suggest a different meaningful prospective classification with four taxon complexes: (i) the B. pascuorum dusmeti group including all taxa from Iberian Peninsula and South West France, (ii) B. pascuorum rehbinderi, (iii) B. pascuorum siciliensis, and (iv) B. pascuorum floralis groups (including all other here studied taxa).