Bombus pascuorum is, by far, the most abundant bumblebee species in the West-Palaearctic. Its distribution is very wide.
Northwards, it avoids the true tundra and it is absent from the Arctic islands, as well as from Iceland, the Orkneys, the Shetlands, the Hebrides and the Faeroes.
Southwards, it avoids steppic as well as warm Mediterranean surroundings : it is absent from the south of the Iberian peninsula, of Italy and of the Balkan. It is found in Corsica and Sicily, though not in Sardinia and it is absent from the other large Mediterranean islands. It is also absent from N. Africa, Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Eastwards, it avoids the steppic regions of S. Ukraine, S. Russia, Anatolia and Iran but extends in Siberia to the Baikal region and S.-W. Yakutia.
Bombus pascuorum includes as much as 23 subspecies ( pascuorum; melleofacies; intermedius; dusmeti; bofilli; maculatus; freygessneri; rufocitrinus; rufostriatus; septentrionalis; siciliensis; vulgo; floralis; gotlandicus; pallidofacies; paphlagonicus; rehbinderi; mniorum; smithianus; moorselensis; olympicus; sparreanus; taleshensis.). They are often brightly coloured and conspicuously different.
In most of its area, the species is quite common. In the Mediterranean region, it is confined to the forests, the irrigated fields and some urban surroundings.
P. Rasmont