Venomous animals use venom, a complex biofluid composed of unique mixtures of proteins and peptides, to act on vital systems of the prey or predator. In bees, venom is solely used for defense against predators. However, the venom composition of bumble bees (Bombus sp.) is largely unknown. The Thoracobombus subgenus of Bombus sp. is a diverse subgenus represented by 14 members across Turkey. In ...

the males of the three species of bumblebees, bombus (thoracobombus) ruderarius (müller), b. (t.) persicus radoszkowskiand b. (t.) mesomelas gerstaecker collected from vikan village, qazvin province and their male labial gland secretions were analyzed by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (gc/ms) and components of their extracts were identified. the major compounds were a complex mixture of ...

The aim of this study was to analyze the 12 species which belong to the subgenus Bombus (Thoracobombus) by identifying, collating and testing the applicability of geometrics morphometrics for distinguishing the species. This was carried out on 133 females and 42 males which were collected from various localities in Turkey. After digitizing landmarks on the right fore wings, 2-dimensional Cartes...

Bumble bees (Bombus Latr.) are primarily a cold temperate group, but a few species live in the hot, moist conditions of tropical rainforest. We describe the external and internal characteristics of a Bombus pullatus Franklin nest from the tropical lowlands of Costa Rica. The nest was a large, conical mound constructed of cut vegetation on the forest floor, similar to nests of the Amazonian bumb...

1. A 39-year bumblebee data base was used to study the codistribution of six cuckoo bumblebees in the subgenus Psythirus of Bombus (hereafter called Psythirus) and their free-living bumblebee hosts in the British Isles. 2. A model of nest parasitism predicted host threshold densities and stable deterministic dynamics, with fluctuations only emerging as a result of environmental or demographic s...