Morocco, encompassing both Mediterranean and Saharan regions, is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, hosting a rich fauna of wild bees. While taxonomic research on Moroccan bees has accelerated in recent years, an update was needed to provide a more complete taxonomic foundation. Here, we present an updated checklist of Moroccan wild bees since the first complete checklist published in 2020. This work summarises and proposes a total of 143 changes to the previous checklist, which correspond to 14.8% of taxa compared to the first checklist: two new genera for the country (Schmiedeknechtia andAglaoapis), 36 species recently described as new to science, 37 species recently recorded in Morocco, and 16 species newly reported here for the country. We further document 18 published synonymies, 33 taxonomic acts and clarifications, and provide records for 28 species previously lacking precise data. We also exclude 14 species from the previous checklist and 25 names based on published synonymies and taxonomic acts and clarifications. This update brings the total to 1,043 wild bee species belonging to six families and 70 genera, compared to 961 species in the 2020 checklist, with 10% (108 species) currently considered as endemic to Morocco. This first update, resulting from a collaborative effort among experts, strengthens the taxonomic framework required to advance research on wild bee diversity, endemism, and conservation in Morocco.

Background:Bees (Anthophila) are key pollinators, yet major gaps persist in the knowledge of their diversity and distribution, particularly across Mediterranean biodiversity hotspots. Türkiye, located at the intersection of Europe and Asia, hosts amongst the richest bee faunas in the Western Palaearctic, with more than 1,800 recorded species. Despite previous faunistic work, the national fauna remains incompletely documented, as shown by numerous recent species descriptions and new country records. Additional sampling is, therefore, required to improve taxonomic and distributional knowledge and to support biodiversity research and conservation in this highly diversified region. New information:The dataset comprises 2,070 wild bee specimens collected in southern Türkiye, with 246 identified species. Amongst these, six species are recorded for the first time from Türkiye and several additional noteworthy species of taxonomic, biogeographical or conservation interest are highlighted and illustrated. This dataset provides new, well-documented occurrence records contributing to an improved understanding of bee diversity in the region.

The authors revise the material of Apoidea, Anthophorinae sampled by A.P. Fedchenko in 1869, 1870 and 1871 in Central Asia, all described in a single publication in 1875. This collection is conserved partly in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg (ZISP) and partly in the Zoological Museum of Moscow University (ZMMU). Each species is represented by photographs of type specimens. Discovered holotypes and paratypes are presented. Numerous lectotypes and paralectotypes are designated as well as several neotypes. Some formerly designated lectotypes are invalidated as they were not designated based on valid syntypes. All locations sampled by Fedchenko are presented, on the basis of unpublished personal notes from this author. Precise geographical coordinates are determined. The original key included in Fedchenko (1875) is translated. Aside from its historical importance, it is also the only available key for Central Asian Anthophorinae species. Holotypes were located for the following species: Anthophora bogdanowi, A. similis, A. bifasciata, A. clavicornis, A. clessini, A. excelsa, A. heinemanni, A. kochi, A. stschurowskyi and A. turanica. Lectotypes are newly designated or confirmed for the following species described by Fedchenko: Anthophora abramowi, A. barbipes, A. erschowi, A. flavescens, A. freimuthi, A. kaufmanni, A. kessleri, A. kronebergi, A. loewi, A. mac-lachlani, A. magnilabris, A. martensi, A. melanopyga, A. meridionalis, A. montivaga, A. murina, A. muscaria, A. olgae, A. oschanini, A. picicornis, A. radoszkowskyi, A. ruficornis, A. saussurei, A. semperi, A. solskyi, A. strauchi, A. tarsidens, A. uljanini and A. velocissima. In order to resolve taxonomic issues, neotypes are proposed: Anthophora (Heliophila) bimaculata (Panzer, 1798); A. (Lophanthophora) freimuthi Fedchenko, 1875; A. (Heliophila) fulvodimidiata Dours, 1869; A. (Pyganthophora) senilis Eversmann, 1846. We additionally designate lectotypes for some taxa not described by Fedchenko: Anthophora (Lophanthophora) agama Radoszkowski, 1868; Amegilla (Zebramegilla) albigena (Lepeletier, 1841); Anthophora (Paramegilla) albomaculata Radoszkowski, 1874; A. (Paramegilla) carbonaria Morawitz, 1876; A. (Paramegilla) faddei Radoszkowski, 1882; A. (Paramegilla) fedchenkoi Radoszkowski, 1871; A. (Anthophora) fulvitarsis Brull & eacute;, 1833 ; A. (Pyganthophora) pedata Eversmann, 1852; A. (Melea) plagiata (Illiger, 1806); A. (Pyganthophora) segnis Eversmann, 1852; A. (Pyganthophora) sichelii Radoszkowski, 1868; A. (Paramegilla) superans Walker, 1871 and A. (Lophanthophora) usbekistana Cockerell, 1930. Anthophora heinemanni Fedchenko n. syn. and A. kochi Fedchenko n. syn. are synonymised with Anthophora (Anthophora) clessini Fedchenko; Anthophora usbekistana Cockerell n. syn. and Anthophora Oschanini Fedchenko n. syn. are synonymised with Anthophora (Lophanthophora) freimuthi Fedchenko; Anthophora tarsidens Fedchenko n. syn. and Anthophora prshewalskyi Morawitz, 1880 n. syn. are synonymised with Anthophora (Paramegilla) segnis Eversmann, 1852. Anthophora erschowi Fedchenko and Anthophora dubia Eversmann, 1852 are considered to be nomina dubia. Amegilla (Micramegilla) picicornis Fedchenko stat. rev. and Anthophora (Paramegilla) albomaculata Radoszkowski stat. rev. are returned to species status. The paper includes 517 original photos and 17 drawings.

Wild bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), the two major groups of insect pollinators, are undergoing alarming declines worldwide, including Europe. The lack of accessible and verified spatial and temporal occurrence records currently challenges efforts to understand and mitigate this decline. Here, we compiled datasets from diverse sources, including taxonomists, national experts, public repositories, museum collections, published literature, verified open-access platforms, and aggregated datasets from previous European projects. The collected data were standardised, cleaned and validated by taxonomists and national experts. This collective effort resulted in two databases comprising more than 4.34 million and 1.04 million records for wild bees and hoverflies, respectively. The databases cover 97% of the European bee fauna (2,083 species out of 2,138 recorded in Europe) and 97% of the European hoverfly fauna (886 species out of 913 recorded in Europe). These standardised databases constitute essential resources for future assessments of status and trends, habitat associations, and other research and conservation initiatives to protect and understand wild pollinators on the European continent.

Crop pollination by animals is a crucial ecosystem service that enhances the yield and the quality of 75% of major food crops worldwide. Wild bees play a significant role in this process as they are diverse and abundant visitors to crops and are known for their efficiency. However, in many parts of the world, including Morocco, there is no available commented list of wild bee species visiting crops (crop-associated species). Here, we investigated the presence of wild bees associated with agricultural landscapes and described key trait characteristics of these bee species. Pollinator communities were sampled by sweep net and pan trapping across a total of 263 fields containing nine flowering main crops in 2018-2019. Key crop-visiting species were identified as those species which made up 5% or more of the individuals visiting the flowers of each crop. Out of the 359 pollinator species occurring in agroecosystems, 156 were crop-associated bee species and only 26 bee species were classified as key crop-pollinating species. The bee communities observed in the crops were predominantly composed of widespread, solitary, pollen generalist, ground-nesting bees with an extended flight season. Our findings provide essential baseline data on crop flower visitors which can contribute to the enhancement of the regional understanding of wild bee diversity and functional traits associated with crop pollination. Moreover, this information can facilitate the implementation of conservation strategies to improve wild-bee habitats within agricultural landscapes.

Wild bees and hoverflies are key pollinators, but their populations are declining in Europe. As the monitoring of each species would be arduous to implement, a cost-effective solution could be a shift from species level monitoring to an evaluation of the trends of functional groups. However, the lack of centralized trait databases hampers progress, as data are often dispersed across literature, limited to some countries or remain as expert knowledge. In a comprehensive effort of scientists working on these two insect groups, data on traits of 3,052 European bee and hoverfly species (2139 and 913, respectively) was compiled. The dataset includes 18 shared traits, along with additional group-specific traits—13 for wild bees and eight for hoverflies. These traits span nesting ecology, larval biology, adult morphology, behavior, and distribution patterns. The primary data sources consist of literature reviews, experimental studies, and expert insights. By fostering collaboration among researchers, this dataset provides a new foundation for exploring the ecological roles of these vital insect pollinators, guiding targeted conservation strategies, and deepening our understanding of the mechanisms of pollinator decline in Europe.

Novel agro-ecosystem management practices are necessary to sustain biodiversity. In low- and middle-income countries, profitable marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEPs) associated with a single main crop may be more efficient at supporting insect diversity and farmer income compared to monoculture fields. An approach known as “Farming with Alternative Pollinators” (FAP), which uses marketable habitat enhancement plants, was tested in Morocco. To date, the FAP approach has achieved success in fields measuring approximately 300 square meters, supporting the diversity and abundance of pollinators, natural enemies of pests, and farmer net income. However, the question remains: how efficient would this approach be in large fields of one hectare or more? We present a case study conducted using faba bean as the main crop and compared the development of the FAP approach in 300 square meter and one-hectare fields in Morocco. At the field level, compared to the control fields (i.e., monoculture), the diversity and abundance of pollinators and natural enemies were higher in FAP fields of both field sizes, but the difference was less in large fields. The difference in net income (108% vs. 36% in small vs. large fields) was significant, indicating a potential incentive for the farmers of small and large fields. A questionnaire conducted with farmers confirmed their recognition of the value of marketable habitat enhancement plants as a cost-efficient solution that can offer multiple benefits.

The importance of flower visitors for ecosystem resilience and crop production underscores the need to address the current decline of flower visitors worldwide. Farming Alternative Pollinators (FAP), economic and ecological benefits of fields hosting various marketable habitat enhancement plants, developed for flower visitors protection in low- and middle-income countries, showed multiple benefits for farmers of pollinator-dependent crops, but potential benefits of FAP for production of pollinator-independent crops have not yet been assessed. Therefore, we conducted in 2021 FAP trials with wheat (Triticum aestivum) as the main crop in two regions of Morocco where cereals are mainly grown in monocultures in field sizes ranging from 2 to 5 ha. We tested the effects of fields adding marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP; coriander and canola) versus control fields on pests, natural enemies, flower visitors, and net income. We found significantly lower abundance and diversity of pests in wheat fields using MHEP, but no effect on natural enemy presence or net income. The strips of MHEP attracted a high number of flower visitors in both regions (Settat and Sidi Slimane), they supported flower visitor communities by providing plant resources and alternative habitat in monocultural landscapes extremely degraded for flower visitors.

We introduce the initial modification to the most recently issued inventory of European wild bees published by Ghisbain & Rosa et al. in 2023. We report new changes and taxonomic acts including: the description of a new species, Panurginus cypricus Hopfenmüller, 2025 sp. nov.; the lectotype designation of Hylaeussubtilis Förster, 1871; the upgrade or resurrection of five subspecies to species rank: Lasioglossumaeneidorsum (Alfken, 1921) stat. rev., Osmia bulgarica Friese, 1923 stat. rev., Seladonia alpina (Alfken, 1907) stat. rev., Seladonia glacialis (Ebmer, 1979) stat. nov., and Seladonia perkinsi (Blüthgen, 1926) stat. rev.; the resurrection of two species from previous synonymy: Hylaeus subtilis Förster, 1871 spec. resurr. and Protosmiamirabilis (Friese, 1899) spec. resurr.; and Hoplitis taurica (Radoszkowski, 1874) is here considered to be a nomen dubium. Finally, the following six new synonymies are proposed: Anthophoralarvata Giraud, 1863 syn. nov. of Anthophorafulvipes Eversmann, 1846; Protosmiamonstrosa (Pérez, 1895) syn. nov. of Protosmiatiflensis (Morawitz, 1875); the following taxa are all synonyms of Hylaeussubtilis Förster, 1871: Hylaeus nigrifacies Bramson, 1879 syn. nov., Prosopis gracilicornis var. luteifrons Strand, 1909 syn. nov., Prosopis moricella Bischoff, 1954 syn. nov., and Prosopis moricella f. atricallosa Bischoff, 1954 syn. nov. We also report 4 new species for Europe: Andrena immaculata Warncke, 1975, Anthophora bifasciata Fedchenko, 1875, Nomada felici Schwarz, 1977, and Systropha anatolica Warncke, 1977. Ancyla nitida Friese, 1902 replaces the use of the name Ancyla nigricornis Friese, 1902 in Europe. Nomada chrysopyga Morawitz, 1871 replaces the use of the name N. mauritanica Lepeletier, 1841 in Europe. The presence and identity of species belonging to the genus Schmiedeknechtia in Europe is discussed. Seven species were overlooked and are now added to the European list: Andrena pinguis Ariana, Scheuchl, Tadauchi & Gusenleitner, 2009, Clavipanurgus anatolicus (Warncke, 1972), Eucera cressa (Tkalců, 1984), Euceramavromoustakisi (Tkalců, 1984), Icteranthidium floripetum (Eversmann, 1852), Seladonia pici (Pérez, 1895) and Megachile sanguinipes Morawitz, 1875. Conversely, seven species are excluded from the European list: Halictusconstantinensis Strand, 1910, Halictus rufipes (Fabricius, 1793), Hoplitisturcestanica (Dalla Torre, 1896), Hoplitis caucasicola Müller, 2012, Lasioglossum andromeda Ebmer, 1978, Lasioglossumedessae Ebmer, 1974, and Seladonia confusa Smith, 1853. Heriades labiata Pérez, 1895 is confirmed as being described from Europe (Barcelona), and not Algeria as previously thought. We also report taxonomic changes recorded after the publication of the latest European checklist (Ghisbain & Rosa et al. 2023), including: the revaluation of two genera, Acanthonomada Schwarz, 1966 and Eupavlovskia Popov, 1955; the synonymy of the subgenus Royanthidium with the genus Pseudoanthidium, which is the senior synonym; the report of the neotype designation of Tetralonia malvae (Rossi, 1790); 32 new species recently described as new to science; 12 species recently synonymized and ten subspecies upgraded to species rank; seven species recently resurrected from previous synonymy; eight species recently recorded as new for Europe; one species noticed as overlooked in the previous European checklists; six species recently removed from the European list; and other various changes such as transfer of species from one genus or subgenus to another. We provide corrections to 136 names of authors and specific epithets, years of publication, and gender agreements demonstrated to be incorrect for various reasons. Overall, the present work revises the total number of species for Europe sensu IUCN to 2,187.

Updated checklist of bees of mainland France (Hymenoptera: Apocrita: Apoidea). - The checklist of bees from metropolitan France is presented here, with an update of the previous checklist published in 1995 which included 865 species. A total of 150 species have been added to this previous checklist, 114 thanks to new distributional records and 36 due to an update of their taxonomic status. In addition, 32 have been removed from the previous list, along with 12 species recently reported in French territory whose presence has either been refuted, deemed doubtful, or requires confirmation. This work results in a list of the 983 confirmed bee species for metropolitan France. This high species richness is related to the high variety of climatic and biogeographic contexts throughout the country. The amount of changes between the previous and the current checklists, most of them related to changes that happened in the past few years, illustrates the importance of keeping our efforts on improving the knowledge of the French bee fauna even today and in the years to come. This update represents an initial step toward supporting these efforts, including the forthcoming red list of French wild bees.

Global food security is heavily reliant on crop pollination. However, evidence on pollinator decline has been reported in all continents. Globally affordable conservation strategies need to be developed, as high-cost measures like European agri-environment schemes are not scalable in all countries. Here, we test, if a low-cost conservation approach named "Farming with Alternative Pollinators" (FAP) can benefit wild pollinator abundance and richness in agro-ecosystems and in crops, through establishment of marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP). The study was carried out in four Moroccan agro-climatic regions, during two years, using 6 main crops (pumpkin, zucchini, faba bean, tomato, eggplant and apple) and 201 sites. Additionally, we investigated how crop type, crop-MHEP composition (i.e. phylogenetic distances among crop and MHEP) and local climate can drive the success of the approach in comparison to monocultural fields. Based on 7097 recorded specimens, our results show that the wild pollinators of the entire FAP fields (i.e. 75% main crop and 25% MHEP) were significantly more abundant and species-rich than those of control fields (i.e. 100% main crop). Considering the main crop wild pollinators, FAP did not display any significant effect either on wild pollinator abundance or on pollinator richness. The mean phylogenetic distance between the main crop and MHEP, and climatic variables were not correlated with increase in wild pollinator abundance and richness in FAP fields. The crop type was found to influence the effect of the FAP approach. Our study provides strong evidence that FAP constitutes a relevant method for wild pollinator conservation in agro-ecosystems. Further research on additional environmental factors is necessary to outline the circumstances under which the FAP approach can positively affect wild pollinator communities.

A bee specimen identified as Anthophora planca Perez, 1895, from France, was discovered in collections of Museum fur Naturkunde, Berlin. This male specimen presents a morphology that does not conform to any of the Anthophora Latreille, 1803 species known from France, or indeed from Europe. After careful examination, it cannot be identified as Anthophora planca Perez which is considered to be a nomen dubium (type lost), but furthermore it does not belong to any currently described species. Additional specimens of this species were collected in Morocco, Spain (Melilla) and Algeria. The new species is named Anthophora (Paramegilla) ahlamae Rasmont & Wood, n. sp. The new species is documented by numerous high-resolution photographs. Its diagnosis is compared with the near species Anthophora (Paramegilla) gallica (Dalla Torre & Friese, 1895) and A. (Paramegilla) podagra Lepeletier, 1841. DNA barcodes data are presented, allowing for confirmation of placement within the subgenus Paramegilla Friese, 1897. A detailed distribution map is provided along with ecological observations. Anthophora ahlamae n. sp. may be specialised on flowers of the genus Ballota L. (Lamiaceae).

Evidence is widespread that many species of Bombus are in population and biogeographical decline in response to adverse effects of global climate warming. The complex interactions of the mechanisms at the root of the declines are poorly understood. Among the numerous factors, we posit that heat stress in the nests could play a key role in the decline of bumblebee species. The similarity of the optimum temperature range in incubating nests is remarkable, about 28–32 °C regardless of species from the cold High Arctic to tropical environments indicates that the optimal temperature for rearing of brood in Bombus spp. is a characteristic common to bumblebees (perhaps a synapomorphy) and with limited evolutionary plasticity. We do note that higher brood rearing temperature for the boreal and Arctic species that have been tested is stressfully high when compared with that for B. terrestris. The Thermal Neutral Zone (TNZ), temperatures over which metabolic expenditure is minimal to maintain uniform nest temperatures, has not been studied in Bombus and may differ between species and biogeographic conditions. That heat stress is more serious than chilling is illustrated by the Thermal Performance Curve Relationship (TPC) (also sometimes considered as a Thermal Tolerance Relationship). The TPC indicates that development and activity increase more slowly as conditions become warmer until reaching a plateau of the range of temperatures over which rates of activity do not change markedly. After that, activity rates decline rapidly, and death ensues. The TPC has not been studied in eusocial bees except Apis dorsata but may differ between species and biogeographic conditions. The importance of the TPC and the TNZ indicates that environmental temperatures in and around bumblebee nests (which have been rarely studied especially in the contexts of nest architecture and substrate thermal characteristics) are factors central to understanding the adverse effects of heat stress and climatic warming on bumblebee populations, health, and biogeographical decline.

Cold-adapted species endangered by global change are crucial cases for understanding range dynamics and its interface with conservation. In view of climate change and their sensitivity, Alpine insects should modify their distribution by reducing ranges, while being unable of sufficient displacements and mostly moving uphill. To test these hypotheses, we targeted four threatened, high-altitude bumblebees differing in subgenera and elevation ranges, and covering the main central and south European mountains. We performed species distribution models including climate and habitat, and we described elevation uphill and the year of change with broken-line regressions. Results indicate that climate change will cause severe future range contractions across large areas, more in the Apennines (80% - 85% ca) than the Alps and Pyrenees (24 - 56% ca), with mostly concentric retreats as future extents will nearly entirely be included in the present ones. Remarkably, since the ‘80s elevation uplift has started by about 325 - 535 m, a period coinciding with the beginning of the main warming, and will continue. The size and distribution of climate refugia will challenge conservation: they will be small and context specific (2-60% of current areas), but while in the Apennines and Pyrenees they will be nearly entirely within Protected Areas, only a third will be so for the Alps. Such impressive distribution changes demonstrates that cold-adapted bumblebees can accurately track climate change and be precise sentinels of it, and these results link with the investigated species being specialists with specific habitat requirements of temperature and glacier presence. Overall, the distribution of cold specialist bumblebees driven by climate change demonstrates that conservation should act upon the dynamic realities of species ranges because their range reduction, the impossibility of finding new areas and the movement uphill emerge as consistent patterns.

Global food security is heavily reliant on crop pollination. However, evidence on pollinator decline has been reported in all continents. Globally affordable conservation strategies need to be developed, as high-cost measures like European agri-environment schemes are not scalable in all countries. Here, we test, if a low-cost conservation approach named “Farming with Alternative Pollinators” (FAP) can benefit wild pollinator abundance and richness in agro-ecosystems and in crops, through establishment of marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP). The study was carried out in four Moroccan agro-climatic regions, during two years, using 6 main crops (pumpkin, zucchini, faba bean, tomato, eggplant and apple) and 201 sites. Additionally, we investigated how crop type, crop-MHEP composition (i.e. phylogenetic distances among crop and MHEP) and local climate can drive the success of the approach in comparison to monocultural fields. Based on 7097 recorded specimens, our results show that the wild pollinators of the entire FAP fields (i.e. 75% main crop and 25% MHEP) were significantly more abundant and species-rich than those of control fields (i.e. 100% main crop). Considering the main crop wild pollinators, FAP did not display any significant effect either on wild pollinator abundance or on pollinator richness. The mean phylogenetic distance between the main crop and MHEP, and climatic variables were not correlated with increase in wild pollinator abundance and richness in FAP fields. The crop type was found to influence the effect of the FAP approach. Our study provides strong evidence that FAP constitutes a relevant method for wild pollinator conservation in agro-ecosystems. Further research on additional environmental factors is necessary to outline the circumstances under which the FAP approach can positively affect wild pollinator communities.

Understanding and reversing biodiversity decline in the Anthropocene requires robust data on species taxonomic identity, distribution, ecology, and population trends. Data deficits hinder biodiversity assessments and conservation, and despite major advances over the past few decades, our understanding of bee diversity, decline and distribution in Europe is still hampered by such data shortfalls. Using a unique digital dataset of wild bee occurrence and ecology, we identify seven critical shortfalls which are an absence of knowledge on geographic distributions, (functional) trait variation, population dynamics, evolutionary relationships, biotic interactions, species identity, and tolerance to abiotic conditions. We describe “BeeFall,” an interactive online Shiny app tool, which visualizes these shortfalls and highlights missing data. We also define a new impediment, the Keartonian Impediment, which addresses an absence of high-quality in situ photos and illustrations with diagnostic characteristics and directly affects the outlined shortfalls. Shortfalls are highly correlated at both the provincial and national scales, identifying key areas in Europe where knowledge gaps can be filled. This work provides an important first step towards the long-term goal to mobilize and aggregate European wild bee data into a multi-scale, easy access, shareable, and updatable database which can inform research, practice, and policy actions for the conservation of wild bees.

A new species of bumble bee-mimicking brood parasitic bee, Tetralonioidella mimetica Orr & Zhu, sp. nov., is described from China. The systematic placement of this species was initially challenging but was resolved using a combination of phylogenomic and COI barcode analyses, which strongly support the new species as a member of the genus Tetralonioidella Strand. Interestingly, the new species mimics the color pattern of both a bumble bee (Bombus Latreille), and its host Habropoda Smith species, a mimicry format previously unknown for bees. A review of the other Tetralonioidella species revealed three additional bee mimics, including two further likely model-host-brood parasite mimicry complexes. To our knowledge, these represent the first documented three-tiered mimetic systems in bees. Several additional taxonomic actions recently became necessary in these and related taxa: Tetralonioidella meghalayensis Dohling & Dey, 2024 is synonymized syn. nov. with Habropoda radoszkowskii (Dalla Torre, 1896) and Varthemapistra Engel, stat. rev. is again synonymized with Habrophorula Lieftinck. Our results also highlight issues with the generic classification of the tribe Melectini as currently used, as Melecta Latreille was found paraphyletic in relation to the remaining melectine genera. As a first step toward resolving this issue, we return the Melecta subgenus Eupavlovskia Popov, stat. rev. to genus level and discuss the ongoing systematic uncertainties regarding melectine taxonomy.

Wild bees are facing many environmental challenges that are reshaping their distributions and even causing extinctions. One of the common threats is climate change leading to a higher frequency of extreme climatic events such as heat waves. We focused on the bee fauna of the eastern Mediterranean country of Lebanon and assessed intra- and interspecific variability of the heat stress resistance in correlation with dry body weight, altitude, and collection date. We used the time before heat stupor (THS) at 40 °C in semi-controlled conditions as a proxy for heat resistance. We found significant interspecific differences in heat resistance, and a positive correlation with dry weight in some taxa. At the intraspecific level, there was a significant difference in heat resistance between sexes for some species. Also, dry/fresh weights, altitude, and collection date were correlated to a higher heat resistance in some taxa. In the context of global changes, we argue that we need heat tolerance metrics for a better understanding of bee decline and to enhance conservation measures at regional scale.

Insect pollinators are declining worldwide due to many challenges and several approaches have been implemented to mitigate their loss. Farming with Alternative Pollinators (FAP) uses marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP) that yield substantial benefits for farmers from the first year. Studies with small-scale farmers have shown that FAP sustains high diversity and abundance of flower visitors and natural enemies, resulting in significant increases in smallholders' incomes, on average 121% higher. For the first time, we analyzed this approach in large-scale fields. Trials were conducted in 16 farms in two regions of Morocco, Sidi Slimane and Ksar El-Kebir, in 2021. We used melon (Cucumis melo) as the main crop and coriander, anise and sunflower as MHEP and selected in each farm 1 ha as trial area in larger monocultures. We compared FAP and control fields regarding abundance and richness of flower visitors, natural enemies and pests as well as net income of the whole field (1 ha). Flower visitors and natural enemies were significantly more diverse and abundant in FAP fields and there were also fewer pests. Our economic results show 17% higher net income per ha in FAP fields versus control fields in the Ksar El-Kebir region, and 12% higher net income in FAP fields compared to control fields in Sidi Slimane region. Although the mean yield difference was statistically significant, the income difference was not. We suggest more FAP trials are needed in different large-scale fields systems.

Food production is highly dependent on pollination services provided by insects; 75% of the leading global food crops need animals for successful production. Pollinators, including managed and wild bees, are declining in many parts of the world. The loss of natural habitats providing nesting sites is considered as one of the main factors driving the decline of crop-visiting wild bees. The researchers had hypothesized that providing bee hotels in cherry orchards may be a useful strategy to support visitors of cherry flowers (Prunus avium). To test this hypothesis, observation was made on the attractiveness of bee hotels to wild bees in cherry orchards in Sefrou Province (Morocco). Bee hotels were installed at the border of two cherry orchards. Surrounding landscapes were described and pollinator communities were observed and sampled within bee hotels, cherry flowers, and also within the surrounding landscape. Bumblebees (Bombus spp.), Mason bees (Osmia spp.), sand bees (Andrena spp.), and sweat bees (Lasioglossum spp.) are the most abundant genera representing almost two-thirds of all wild bee visitors of cherry trees. Mason bees (Osmia spp.) are the most abundant bees nesting in bee hotels with almost three-quarters of all insects recorded. Bee hotels could therefore be used to sustain or even increase cavity-nesting bees visiting cherry orchards in Morocco.