The post-hibernated queens of Korean native bumblebee, Bombus hypocrita saporoensis were collected in Jeong-Sun, Korea to investigate their ecological characteristics and reared under the laboratory conditions; 27℃, 65% R.H. and darkness. The average weight of collected queens was 0.87±0.14g and 0.8g class was most abundant (34.7%) among eight weight classes. The rates of colony initiation, colony foundation and progeny-queen production were 76.3%, 60.0% and 42.5%, respectively. The durations up to colony initiation and colony foundation were 12.0±6.7 days and 49.3±2.4 days, respectively. The duration up to first worker, male and queen emergence were 22.2±3.0 days, 63.4±6.5 days and 63.5±8.7 days, respectively. The number of progenies was 108.5±26.0 workers, 186.7±70.7 males and 39.1±30.3 queens. The longevity of colony founded queen was 90.2±19.9 days whereas that of non-colonized queen was 35.9±30.3 days. Copulation time was 29.5±9.6 min. The number of eggs per egg cell laid new queen was 9.3±2.3 grains. An egg shaped as banana and it’s size was 1.12±0.10 mm in a width, 3.54± 0.16 mm in a length and 2.26±0.34 mg in a weight.

We cloned venom serine proteases from two bumblebee species, Bombus hypocrita sapporoensis and B. ardens ardens. We compared the predicted mature protein sequences of these serine proteasegenes to those previously reported from other bees. Using B. h. sapporoensis venom serine protease(Bs-VSP), we identify that Bs-VSP acts as a fibrin(ogen)olytic enzyme. Bs-VSP activates prothrombin and directly degrades fibrinogen into fibrin degradation products, as demonstrated for B. ignitus and B. terrestrisvenom serine proteases. Our results further define roles for bumblebee venom serine proteases as fibrin(ogen)olytic enzyme, providing strong evidence that bumblebee venom serine proteases are hemostatically active proteins that are potentially promising therapeutic agents.

The large bumblebee, Bombusterrestris, indigenous to Europe and adjacent area, and used extensively for high-value crop pollination, has been artificially introduced to several parts of the world. Here we show the interspecific hybridization between the bumblebee species, B.hypocrita sapporoensis and B.terrestris, under laboratory conditions. The mating and oviposition percentages resulting from the interspecific hybridization of a B.terrestris queen with a B. h. sapporoensis male were higher than those resulting from the intraspecific mating of B. h. sapporoensis. Furthermore, a competitive copulation experiment indicated that the mating of B. h. sapporoensis males with B.terrestris queens was 1.2-fold more frequent than the mating of these males with B. h. sapporoensis queens. The interspecific hybridization of a B.terrestris queen with a B. h. sapporoensis male produced either B.terrestris workers or the B.terrestris male phenotype, and the hybridization of a B. h. sapporoensis queen with a B.terrestris male produced B. h. sapporoensis males. Our results indicated that interspecific hybridization occurred between B. h. sapporoensis and B.terrestris. The results suggests that such hybridization will have a negative competitive impact and will cause genetic contamination of native bumblebees.