Project Molecular differentiation and ecology of the cryptic bumblebee species of the Bombus lucorum complex in the Alps

In Austria, 47 of around 250 bumblebee species are found worldwide, making our country one of the hot spots of bumblebee biodiversity. According to recent studies using DNA barcoding, the differentiation of the sometimes very common species of the Bombus lucorum complex (Bombus lucorum, B. cryptarum and B. magnus) with common morphological characteristics is not possible. However, the mtDNA analyses yield flawlessly three taxa called molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs). By demonstrating the unreliability of species determination with phenotypic characteristics, the results of all previous ecological studies on this species group have also become obsolete.在奥地利，全球约250种熊蜂（bumblebee）中有47种分布于此，该国也因此成为熊蜂生物多样性的热点区域之一。据近期依托DNA条形码（DNA barcoding）技术开展的研究显示，部分极为常见的明亮熊蜂复合群（Bombus lucorum complex）物种——包括明亮熊蜂（Bombus lucorum）、隐纹熊蜂（B. cryptarum）与大型熊蜂（B. magnus）——因具有相似的形态特征，无法通过形态学方法完成区分。不过，线粒体DNA（mtDNA）分析可精准区分出三个类群，即分子操作分类单元（molecular operational taxonomic units, MOTUs）。本研究证实了依靠表型特征进行物种鉴定的不可靠性，此前所有针对该类群的生态学研究结论也因此失效。