Handlirschianus

Bombus handlirschianus Vogt
Handlirschianus Vogt, 1909:49, examined
shaposhnikovi Skorikov, 1910a:329

TAXONOMIC STATUS: The white-banded taxon handlirschianus and the yellow-banded taxon shaposhnikovi differ principally in female colour pattern. Some males associated with the two taxa have appeared to differ in morphology (Skorikov, 1931; Williams, 1991 [pdf]) and consequently the taxa have been treated as separate species. More recently the distinctness of the males has been questioned and mixed colonies have been found (De Meulemeester et al., 2010). Furthermore, evidence from comparisons of DNA sequences from five genes is consistent with the two taxa being conspecific (Cameron et al., 2007 [pdf]).

DISTRIBUTION: Palaearctic Region.