I photographed these bees in the summer of 2011, in São Francisco de Paula (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). They remind me Bombus opifex, but I am not sure.
Best person to contact to ask would be Paul Williams at the Natural History Museum in London - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/bombus/
Dear Rodrigo, in Brazil, the genus Bombus is represented by only six species, all belonging to the subgenus Thoracobombus: B. bellicosus, B. brasiliensis, B. transversalis, B. brevivillus, B. morio, and B. atratus (presently also called pauloensis). There is a seventh possible species (B. rubriventris), but this is controversial. Therefore, B. opifex is not among the recognised seven Bombus species occurring naturally in Brazil. However, these specimens you photographed in the South of Brazil also do not look like any of the Brazilian species. It would be interesting to investigate better these bees in Southern Brazil.
Rodrigo, these are Bombus bellicosus. Normally the pilosity of the thorax is redder but I guess this pale yellow is within the range of variation. Nice photo.
Thank you everybody for your kind answers. Gabriel Melo suggests it may be B. bellicosus and the photos I saw at the Web indicate he might be correct. This may be a rare species in Rio Grande do Sul. I saw them only once while studying the pollination of some Habenaria spp. (Orchidaceae). Remarkably, a similarly -coloured Asilidae (a mimic?) was flying nearby. See the attached photo. All the best!
I think this species belong to Thoracobombus.
I don't know which species of this subgenus do you have in Brasil. it is better to asl Paul Williams.
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