9. Altitudinal diversity of tribe Bombini (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from district Shigar, Gilgit Baltistan
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Abstract
Bumble bees plays an important role in pollination of crops and environmental indicators. Identification of bumble bees are also important as different species plays various role in ecosystem. Present study was conducted to know the altitudinal diversity of tribe Bombini. Samples were collected from various localities of district Shigar of Baltistan Division. Identification were done at Insect Systematic Laboratory of Entomology department, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam. During present study 7 species are recorded under single genus Bombus, from the collection sites viz, B. asiaticus (Morawitz, 1875), B. melanurus (Lepeletier, 1835), B. semenovianus (Skorikov, 1914), B. tunicatus (Smith, 1852), B. ferganicus (Radoszkowski, 1893), B. lucorum (Linnaeus, 1761) and B. rufofasciatus (Smith, 1852). The list of host plants are recorded as, Euphorbia wallichia, Cirsium arvense, Carduus edelbergii, Lavatera cashmeriana, Cirsium arvense, Melilotus officinale, Taraxacum officinale, Ipomea tricolor, Helianthus annuus, Digitalis purpurea, Zinnia elegans and Fagopyrum esculentum. This study will proved helpful to recognize the bumble species as pollinator of different crops of the region for conservation.
Keywords: Bombini; Bumble bees; Bombus; Pollinators; Shigar