Since the recent distinction between Bombus lapponicus s.s. and B. monticola (Svensson, 1979a; Pekkarinen, 1982), most of the older data are obsolete. As B. monticola is absent from N. Russia and N. Siberia, we may assume that the ancient data from these region are about B. lapponicus. The range of the species extends approximately between the 65th and 70th parallels in Europe and the 60th and 72nd parallels in Siberia. It extends from the north of the taiga to the tundra, except for its colder parts (Taymyr peninsula).
In Fennoscandia, the ranges of B. lapponicus and B. monticola will remain questionable, as long as the material studied by Løken (1973) has not been revised. According to Svensson (1979a, 1980), B. lapponicus is found throughout the mountains of Fennoscandia to the Atlantic coast of Norway. According to Pekkarinen et al. (1981), who take both species in account, B. lapponicus is found from the northern shores of the Bothnia Gulf, at 65° N, to the shores of the Barents sea.
P. Rasmont