New or little-known bees from Sicily (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)

Abstract

The authors report newly recorded species of bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) on the Volcan Etna (Sicily). A total of ten species belonging to three families are recorded: Halictidae (8 species), Megachilidae (1 species), and Apidae (1 species). Pseudapis valga (Gerstaecker), Lasioglossum convexiusculum (Schenck) (Halictidae), Hoplitis laevifrons (Morawitz) (Megachilidae) and Tarsalia ancyliformis Popov (Apidae), are reported for the first time for Sicily and the presence of other bee species is confirmed for the Island. Furthermore, this is the first record of the genus Tarsalia Morawitz for the fauna of Sicily. For each species data are given in relation to the altitudinal level, the plants visited, and the ecological quality of the sites where the specimens were found.

Effects of Different Inter-Row Soil Management and Intra-Row Living Mulch on Spontaneous Flora, Beneficial Insects, and Growth of Young Olive Trees in Southern Italy

“…In terms of wild bees, it is significant to note that 72.72% (24 species) of the overall species nest in the ground, and their existence depends on the typology of soil management. In recent years, various regional surveys have focused on the biodiversity of these populations and the agroecological role of these two groups of insects [40][41][42] or as specific pollinators of crops [43][44][45][46].…”

The species of Eucera Scopoli, subgenus Tetralonia Spinola from Sardinia (Italy) with new records and E. gennargentui sp. nov. (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

“…In Europe, wild bees are threatened by habitat changes resulting from human activities, e.g., urban exspansion, agricultural practices, habitat destruction or changes, and climate changing (Matheson et al, 1996;Steffan-Dewenter et al, 2005;Nieto et al 2014;Bella et al 2020;Fisogni et al 2020). There was poor information for the majority of the species (56.7%) to determine their conservation status (Nieto et al 2014).…”

Twenty New Records of Bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) for Sardinia (Italy)

“…In the last decade, numerous studies on bees have been conducted in different islands of the Mediterranean Basin, such as Sicily [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], Malta [ 29 , 30 ], Cyprus [ 31 ], and the Balearic Islands [ 32 ]. However, the bee fauna of Sardinia still remains incomplete.…”