Bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of Ecuador

Emilia Moreno; Ana Belén García-Ruilova; Fernanda Salazar; Pablo A. Menéndez‐Guerrero; Esteban Poveda-Proaño; Álvaro Barragán; David A. Donoso

doi:10.1101/2025.10.15.682676

bioRxivOct 15, 2025ZoologyPreprint

Bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of Ecuador

Emilia Moreno iD, Ana Belén García-Ruilova iD, Fernanda Salazar iD, Pablo A. Menéndez‐Guerrero iD, Esteban Poveda-Proaño iD, Álvaro Barragán iD, David A. Donoso iD

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Abstract

Bumble bee diversity and distribution in the Tropical Andes remain insufficiently documented. Here, we provide the first comprehensive checklist of Bombus species for continental Ecuador, integrating data from regional museum collections, published literature, and online biodiversity databases. We further assessed Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcode variation in six species. In total, we documented 15 Bombus species occurring across 22 provinces of continental Ecuador. Relative to previous reports, we extend the known elevational ranges of B. transversalis and B. funebris to higher altitudes, and of B. excellens to lower elevations. Three species (B. mexicanus, B. coccineus, and B. ephippiatus) were excluded from the checklist, as earlier records are now considered erroneous. Additionally, citizen science data revealed interactions between eight bumble bee species and 138 plant species, of which 87 species are native. Our findings highlight the value of integrating natural history collections, molecular approaches, and participatory science to secure the long-term conservation of bumble bee diversity in the Tropical Andes.

In-depth summary

Claude Opus 5.5 · xhigh effort · 2 Nov 2026 · from the full text of version 1 (16 Oct 2025)

Integrating 1,794 records from museum collections, literature, GBIF, and iNaturalist with COI DNA barcoding establishes a checklist of 15 Bombus species and their floral interaction networks across continental Ecuador.

Bumble bee diversity, geographic distribution, and floral associations in the Tropical Andes of Ecuador lacked an integrative synthesis, and over half of the documented regional species are listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN. Combining museum voucher curation, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA barcoding, and citizen science observations revises species occurrences, extends known elevational ranges, and maps plant-pollinator networks.

Key results

ShownContinental Ecuador supports 15 verified Bombus species across 22 provinces, while three previously reported species (B. mexicanus, B. ephippiatus, and B. coccineus) are excluded due to erroneous or Peruvian locality records.
Curation of 1,794 total records comprising 529 QCAZ specimens (12 species), 104 MECN/INABIO specimens (6 species), 93 published literature records (15 species), 310 GBIF museum records (12 species), and 753 research-grade iNaturalist records (8 species). · Abstract; Bumble bee catalogue; Bombus species not included in the catalogue
ShownSpecimen records extend the known elevational ranges of four Ecuadorian Bombus species to higher or lower altitudes than previously reported.
Range extensions were documented for Bombus funebris up to 4643 m a.s.l. (from 610-3800 m), B. transversalis up to 1568 m a.s.l. (from 220-1100 m in Ecuador), B. excellens down to 550 m a.s.l. (from 900-3500 m), and B. rubicundus down to 400 m a.s.l. (from 2200-4000 m in Ecuador). · Bombus excellens, Smith 1879; Bombus funebris, Smith 1854; Bombus rubicundus, Smith 1854; Bombus transversalis, (Olivier 1789)
ShownMitochondrial COI DNA barcoding of six Ecuadorian Bombus species confirms morphological identifications and splits Bombus hortulanus into two distinct Barcode Index Numbers (BINs).
Sequencing of a 658 bp (650-670 bp) COI fragment from 79 specimens (55 nucleotide sequences in the Maximum Likelihood tree) assigned single BOLD BINs to B. funebris (AAF6139), B. pauloensis (AAZ3039), B. robustus (AEH8532), B. rubicundus (ABX4127), and B. transversalis (ABA4058), whereas B. hortulanus split into two BINs (AAJ7887 and AFI1835). · Barcoding Bumble bees; Bombus hortulanus, Friese 1904; Discussion; Figure legends
ShownCitizen science records capture floral interactions between eight Bombus species and 138-140 flowering plant species across 39 botanical families, dominated by native plants and visits to Fabaceae and Asteraceae.
Of 140 plant species (reported as 138 in the abstract and conclusions; 87 native and 51 exotic), B. funebris visited 78 plant species (51 native; 80 in Discussion) and B. robustus visited 53 (21 native), while Fabaceae (292 records across 16 species, led by native Dalea coerulea with n=195 visits) and Asteraceae (137 records across 34 species) had the most visits. · Abstract; Bumble bees and their interacting plants; Discussion; Conclusions

Methods, data and reproducibility

Compiled and morphologically verified 1,794 Bombus records from two Quito insect collections (QCAZ and MECN/INABIO), literature, GBIF, and research-grade iNaturalist observations, mapping distributions in QGIS. Amplified a 658 bp mitochondrial COI barcode from 79 specimens for Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic analysis in MEGA X and BOLD BIN assignment, and built plant-pollinator bipartite networks in R.

Curated Bombus occurrence catalogue from QCAZ (529), MECN/INABIO (104), literature (93), GBIF (310), and iNaturalist (753) · multiple species · n = 1,794 specimen and occurrence records across 15 Bombus species
Mitochondrial COI (658 bp) DNA barcode sequences from Ecuadorian Bombus specimens (INABIO and Global Malaise Project GMECU) · multiple species · n = 79 specimens across 6 Bombus species (55 sequences in tree) · dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-BOMBUSEC
Research-grade iNaturalist bumble bee-plant floral interaction observations in continental Ecuador · multiple species · n = 8 Bombus species interacting with 138-140 plant species (87 native, 51 exotic)

Methods & tools: QGIS (v3.44), Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), MEGA X, R (v4.3.1 / v4.4), bipartite (v2.18)
Data & accessions: https://dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-BOMBUSEC https://www.gbif.org/https://ecuador.inaturalist.org/
Reagents & environment: QGIS v.3.44, R v4.3.1 (and v.4.4 in figure legends) with bipartite package v2.18, MEGA X.
Experimental conditions: MEGA X analysis run using up to 8 parallel computing threads.
Reproducibility gaps: R scripts for bipartite network analysis and QGIS mapping workflows are not deposited in a public code repository.

Limitations (3)

Citizen science records from iNaturalist are geographically biased and capture very few floral interactions for rare species (only 12 total records across Bombus ecuadorius, B. excellens, and B. melaleucus). · stated by the authors
DNA barcoding was performed on only six of the 15 documented Ecuadorian Bombus species, leaving the remaining nine species without regional COI barcode sequences. · noted in this summary
There are minor numerical discrepancies in the text regarding the total number of interacting plant species (reported as 138 in the Abstract and Conclusions versus 140 in the Results) and B. funebris links (78 in Results versus 80 in Discussion). · noted in this summary

Read this if you study Neotropical pollinator biodiversity, Bombus taxonomy, or plant-pollinator interaction networks in Andean ecosystems.