77. Bombus (Sibiricobombus) asiaticus Morawitz (Figs 156, 157) Bombus hortorum Var. Asiatica Morawitz in Fedtschenko, 1875:4. Taxonomy. Revised by Williams (1991). Material examined. 25 workers, 2 males (IAB). Distribution in North China. Only on the edge of northeast Qinghai-Tibetan plateau in Gansu. Common at medium to high elevations of the Qilianshan mountains in Sunan and Tianzhu. Rare at high elevations of the Dangjinshan pass of Aerjinshan mountains in Aksai, and at medium elevations of the transition zone between the east Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and the west loess paleau in Minxian and Lintan. 9 localities (Fig. 156) between 2326–3656 m (IAB). Variation in North China. This species shows strong variation in the colour pattern of the hair across its global distribution (Williams, 1991). In North China it has a colour pattern with three yellow bands and a red tail without substantial variation (Fig. 157). Similar species in North China. This species is similar in its red-tailed colour pattern to B. keriensis (see the key; Figs 151, 157). Distribution in China. Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang (IAB). Forage plants. ASTERACEAE: Carduus acanthoides, Cosmos bipinnatus, Ixeridium gracile, Saussurea sp.; FABACEAE: Astragalus bhotanensis, Hedysarum tanguticum; LAMIACEAE: Caryopteris mongholica; ROSACEAE: Rubus sp.

Published as part of An, Jiandong, Huang, Jiaxing, Shao, Youquan, Zhang, Shiwen, Wang, Biao, Liu, Xinyu, Wu, Jie & Williams, Paul H., 2014, The bumblebees of North China (Apidae, Bombus Latreille), pp. 1-89 in Zootaxa 3830 (1) on page 76, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3830.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/286560