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Abstract
Evidence for the extinction of the bumblebeeBombus bellicosus in Paraná state, in Brazil, is presented. The species is found in areas covered with open grass fields and shrub vegetation, originally ranging from northwestern Argentina to Paraná, where it reached its northeastern limit. Until the early 1980s,B. bellicosus was relatively abundant in Paraná, when the last known specimens were collected. In recent surveys conducted from 2002 to 2005, no specimens were recovered at sites in which the species was previously known to occur. Possible causes for local extinction of this species are discussed, including habitat conversion, pollution and climate change.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the institutions housing specimens ofBombus bellicosus for allowing us to study their material: Laboratório de Pesquisas Biológicas da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (LPB/PUCRS), Fundação Zoobotânica do Rio Grande do Sul e Laboratório de Abelhas Nativas (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina). We also thank Antonio JC Aguiar and Luiz RR Faria-Jr. for taking part in the collecting trip to southern Brazil in 2006, and Rodrigo B Gonçalves for collaboration in the survey at São José dos Pinhais in 2004–2005. The authors also acknowledge CNPq for a PIBIC scholarship to ACM and for a research scholarship to GARM.
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Aline C. Martins
Present address: Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
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Department of Zoology, Laboratório de Biologia, Federal University of Parana, Comparada Hymenoptera, Caixa Postal 19020, Curitiba, Parana, 81531980, Brazil
Aline C. Martins & Gabriel A. R. Melo
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Martins, A.C., Melo, G.A.R. Has the bumblebeeBombus bellicosus gone extinct in the northern portion of its distribution range in Brazil?.J Insect Conserv14, 207–210 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-009-9237-y
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