Semenov's Bumble Bee

The species has been invading towards west in recent years. The westernmost location so far is in Lower Saxony; from here eastwards to Tuva, east of this only one report from Panfilov et al. 1961 from Sakha / Yakutia; northwards to southern Norway (first discovered here in 2013 in Hvaler; no evidence from Sweden), in Finland to the Arctic Circle, in Russia to Karelia, Arkhangelsk, Komi and Perm; south to Bavaria, Northern Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine and Orenburg. In Germany, the first record for Central Europe was made in Schleswig-Holstein in 1998 (van der Smissen & Rasmont 2000), in the following years the species was also reported from Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony. In Austria, a find from 2009 from the Waldviertel in Lower Austria is known to date (Streinzer, 2010).

Occurs from late April to late August. Overwintered females appear from the end of April, young males in July. This is a polylectic species. During the summer colony development phase, Asteraceae are preferred as fodder plants. Nests underground in abandoned mouse cauldrons. Pollenstorer. The colonies are not very strong in individuals.

Named after the Russian entomologist Andrey Petrovich Semyonov Tyan-Shansky (1866-?), Who collected parts of the type series.