Bombus ignitus
| Bombus ignitus | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Genus: | Bombus |
| Subgenus: | Bombus |
| Species: | B. ignitus |
| Binomial name | |
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Bombus ignitus (Smith, 1869) |
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Bombus ignitus is a species of bumblebee in the family Apidae. It is mainly distributed in Eastern Asia, commonly found in China, Japan, and Korea. It is used in China and Japan commercially as a pollinator.B. ignitus is a eusocial insect with a queen that is monandrous - mating with only one male in the late summer before hibernating until the following spring. It builds its nest out of a mass of pollen and lays its eggs after completion. Due to numerous conflicts between queens and fertile workers, some surviving queens are badly injured, described by some as living corpses.
B. ignitus is part of the order Hymenoptera, which is the third largest order of insects. It is a member of the family Apidae, consisting of bees, and the subfamily Apinae, which contains the majority of species within Apidae. The subfamily Apinae consists of 14 tribes, including the tribe Bombini, which B. ignitus is a part of. Bombini contains a single living genus Bombus. B. ignitus can be further classified into the subgenus Bombus sensu stricto, or Bombus in the sense of the original author.
The species name ignitus is a Latin adjective, meaning "containing fire."
B. ignitus is a large bee characterized by a medium length tongue. Females have black bristles that cover the back of the thorax and the mid-legs. The abdomen is separated into five tergum. Starting from the thorax, the first three terga are black in color, whereas the fourth and fifth terga are orange-red in color. Males are characterized by golden yellow bristles that form two bands on the anterior and posterior thorax. Like the female, the male has an abdomen separated into five tergum. Starting from the thorax, the first two terga are golden yellow in color, differentiating males from females. The third tergum is black in color. The fourth and fifth terga, like the female, is orange-red in color. Compared to the female, the male compound eye is small. The antenna of males are shorter than the antenna of females, reaching only to the base of the wings. Compared to the males of other bumblebee species, the males of B. ignitus have greatly broadened penis valves that flare outwards to form a funnel shape. The queen has a body length of 19 mm. Workers have a body length of 15–17 mm. Males have a body length of 17 mm.
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