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

摘要

Recently, several studies have highlighted the global decline of pollinators. This has increased concern for the long-term sustainability of plant biodiversity, food production, human nutrition, and human well-being. In Europe, approximately 40% of bee species are threatened in some countries. The Mediterranean Basin is one of the richest areas of diversity of wild bees. Sardinia, the second largest island in the basin, has a flora and fauna with many endemic taxa. Until recently, a number of 316 species of bees was reported on the island. However, the identification of the bee fauna of Sardinia still remains incomplete compared to other islands of the Mediterranean Basin, such as Sicily, Malta, Cyprus, and the Balearic Islands. It is very important to know and protect the potentially rich bee biodiversity of Sardinia, considering that the different factors that now threaten wild pollinators in Europe could lead to its impairment. This paper reports 20 new records of bee species from Sardinia based on observations made in different coastal and mountain ecosystems of the island. These findings contribute to the knowledge of the systematics and distribution of the Sardinian bee fauna.