Updated distribution of the invasive Megachile sculpturalis (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Italy and its first record on a Mediterranean island

Abstract

Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) is an invasive solitary bee that is rapidly spreading all over Europe. The present study aims to update the distribution of this species in Italy. The research led to the collection of 177 records, obtained through bibliographic research and data-mining from websites, blogs and social networks. We here present the first record of M. sculpturalis on a Mediterranean island and discuss its possible effect on the native ecosystem. Given the particular discovery of M. sculpturalis on Elba Island (Tuscany), we suggest possible monitoring, containment and possible eradication measures of the species.

Evidence for multiple introductions of an invasive wild bee species currently under rapid range expansion in Europe

“…In Fig. 4, all published localities are indicated until 2018 [16,22,23,26,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103] as well as localities mentioned in public nature platforms and communication tools related to nature topics (i.e. iNaturalist, observations.org, naturgucker.de).…”

Megachile sculpturalis (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): A Valuable Study Organism for Invasive Pollinators and the Role of Beekeepers in Ongoing Monitoring Programs

“…In 2009 and 2010 M. sculpturalis was found near Lake Maggiore, 400 km away (Amiet, 2012;Quaranta et al, 2014). In the following years the bee expanded its range to South France and North Italy (Guariento et al, 2019;Le Féon et al, 2018;Ruzzier et al, 2020;Westrich et al, 2015), until it crossed the Alps in Central Europe (Dillier, 2016;Gogala & Zadravec, 2018;Kovács, 2015;Lanner et al, 2020aLanner et al, , 2020bPoggi et al, 2020;Westrich, 2020). The range expansion continued to South Spain (Aguado et al, 2018;Ortiz-Sánchez et al, 2018), and on the other side to eastern European Comparably to the colonization history in North America, also in Europe the first two findings were several hundred km away.…”

From Island Biogeography to Conservation: A Multi-Taxon and Multi-Taxonomic Rank Approach in the Tuscan Archipelago

“…This archipelago, rich in endemism, Sardinian-Corsican elements and taxa originating from Italian Peninsula, presents a rather complex biogeographic history linked to its origin during the convergence between Europe and Africa [22], the Pleistocene sea regression and driven by the changes that occurred in more recent times (Miocene to present), including those mediated by humans and their activities [23][24][25][26].…”