Bombus armeniacus belongs to the pomorum-group (formerly sg. Rhodobombus).
The range of B. armeniacus is restricted to true steppes. It extends discontinuously from the surroundings of Vienna (Austria) to the West to Ulan-Bator (Mongolia) to the East and from the Mazandaran (N. Iran) to the surroundings of Kazan, in the Volga basin (Russia).
A very isolated population is found in Burgenland and Nieder-Österreich (Austria) and S. Moravia (Czechia). Another, larger population thrives in Bulgaria. One specimen is mentioned from Rijeka (Croatia) by Pittioni (1938a), but this may be a mistake. Two specimens were collected in S. Macedonia. Curiously enough, the species is not mentioned from Hungary nor from Romania.
It is found in Ukraine, in the Krim and in the lower valleys of the Dniepr and Don Rs. In European Russia, it is particularly present in the Volga valley, between Kazan and Volgograd. More east, it is found in Bashkiria and in the surroundings of Novosibirsk. In N. Anatolia, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and N. Iran, it is quite common.
More east, it is widely spread in the Alai, the Altai and in the upper Ienissei valley. Isolated specimens have also been found near Irkutsk and Ulan-Bator. A subspecific differenciation has been suggested but is barely visible.
P. Rasmont