Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report

Solitary and primitively eusocial bees, an important group of pollinators, have declined in the past few decades. In view of the recent focus on safeguarding pollinating insects, it is vital to understand the basic ecology of species for their conservation, for example their phenologies. We observed...

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Date:2024
Main Authors: Sirohi, M. H., Jackson, J., Ollerton, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Publishing House "Akademperiodyka" of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine 2024
Online Access:https://ojs.akademperiodyka.org.ua/index.php/Zoodiversity/article/view/584
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Journal Zoodiversity
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author Sirohi, M. H.
Jackson, J.
Ollerton, J.
author_facet Sirohi, M. H.
Jackson, J.
Ollerton, J.
author_sort Sirohi, M. H.
baseUrl_str
collection OJS
datestamp_date 2024-08-20T08:50:37Z
description Solitary and primitively eusocial bees, an important group of pollinators, have declined in the past few decades. In view of the recent focus on safeguarding pollinating insects, it is vital to understand the basic ecology of species for their conservation, for example their phenologies. We observed the flight periods of solitary and primitively eusocial bees in both the urban core of a large British town and nearby nature conservation areas. The bee surveys were conducted with standardised methods, on warm sunny days from the first appearance of bees in March 2012 and continued until October 2012. This study confirmed that a high number of species are active in the spring season. The emergence dates of species in urban areas and nature sites varied; about 26 of the 35 species were recorded at least one week earlier in urban areas; in contrast, only four species were seen earlier in nature conservation sites. When comparing this with the expected flight periods recorded (largely in nature sites) in the literature, many species were recorded at their expected time. However, a few individuals were recorded after their usual flight activity time, suggesting that the populations were possibly affected by the microclimate in urban areas. More urban phenological data are needed to understand the phenological trends in bees in urban habitats.
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spelling zoodiv-article-5842024-08-20T08:50:37Z Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report Sirohi, M. H. Jackson, J. Ollerton, J. Hymenoptera phenology pollinator conservation urban habitats Apoidea Solitary and primitively eusocial bees, an important group of pollinators, have declined in the past few decades. In view of the recent focus on safeguarding pollinating insects, it is vital to understand the basic ecology of species for their conservation, for example their phenologies. We observed the flight periods of solitary and primitively eusocial bees in both the urban core of a large British town and nearby nature conservation areas. The bee surveys were conducted with standardised methods, on warm sunny days from the first appearance of bees in March 2012 and continued until October 2012. This study confirmed that a high number of species are active in the spring season. The emergence dates of species in urban areas and nature sites varied; about 26 of the 35 species were recorded at least one week earlier in urban areas; in contrast, only four species were seen earlier in nature conservation sites. When comparing this with the expected flight periods recorded (largely in nature sites) in the literature, many species were recorded at their expected time. However, a few individuals were recorded after their usual flight activity time, suggesting that the populations were possibly affected by the microclimate in urban areas. More urban phenological data are needed to understand the phenological trends in bees in urban habitats. Publishing House "Akademperiodyka" of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine 2024-07-02 Article Article application/pdf https://ojs.akademperiodyka.org.ua/index.php/Zoodiversity/article/view/584 10.15407/zoo2024.04.317 Zoodiversity; Vol. 58 No. 4 (2024): Zoodiversity Zoodiversity (Vestnik Zoologii); Том 58 № 4 (2024): Zoodiversity 2707-7268 2707-725X 10.15407/zoo2024.04 en https://ojs.akademperiodyka.org.ua/index.php/Zoodiversity/article/view/584/279 Copyright (c) 2024 Muzafar Hussain Sirohi, Jeff Ollerton, Janet Jackson
spellingShingle Sirohi, M. H.
Jackson, J.
Ollerton, J.
Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report
title Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report
title_full Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report
title_fullStr Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report
title_short Comparison of Flight Periods of Solitary and Primitively Eusocial Bees in Urban Environments and Nature Conservation Areas: a Preliminary Report
title_sort comparison of flight periods of solitary and primitively eusocial bees in urban environments and nature conservation areas: a preliminary report
topic_facet Hymenoptera
phenology
pollinator conservation
urban habitats
Apoidea
url https://ojs.akademperiodyka.org.ua/index.php/Zoodiversity/article/view/584
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AT jacksonj comparisonofflightperiodsofsolitaryandprimitivelyeusocialbeesinurbanenvironmentsandnatureconservationareasapreliminaryreport
AT ollertonj comparisonofflightperiodsofsolitaryandprimitivelyeusocialbeesinurbanenvironmentsandnatureconservationareasapreliminaryreport