eur j biol

European Journal of Biology

2602-2575 2618-6144

Istanbul University

Plant Preferences of Halictus Latreille (Halictidae: Hymenoptera) in the Mediterranean Region of Southern Turkey

Dikmen

Fatih

Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Istanbul, Turkey Tore

Demet

Altıekim Street Leylak Apartment, Florya, Istanbul, Turkey Aytekin

Ahmet Murat

Université de Mons, Laboratoire de Zoologie, Place du Parc 23 B-7000 Mons, Belgium

12 02 2018

77 2 65 69 10 11 2018

1940

European Journal of Biology

DOI: 10.26650/EurJBiol.2018.0014Objective: Lack of information regardingthe floral preferences of wild bees is one of the major problems inunderstanding plant–bee interactions. Therefore, we investigated the plantpreferences of Halictus Latreille (Halictidae: Apoidea: Hymenoptera) speciesthat are distributed in the Mediterranean Region of southern Turkey.Materials and Methods: Bees were collectedthrough field studies that were performed during the spring and summer seasonsbetween 2008 and 2009. The flowers visited by bees were also recorded. Intotal, 516 bee specimens belonging to 19 species were collected, and 54 planttaxa were found to be related to these Halictus species. In addition to fieldstudy data, information collected from the literature was included in thestudy. The most commonly visited plant families, genera, and species aredescribed using diversity indices scores in terms of the plant taxa preferencesof the bees.Results: A total of 516 bee and 195 plantspecimens were sampled from 76 stations located in 14 provinces. In total, 54plant taxa were found to be related to 19 Halictus species. Among such largeplant taxa preferences, the most commonly visited ones were Onopordum,Centaurea, and Carduus members. Conclusion: This study suggests thatmembers of the genus Halictus primarily prefer to visit plants belonging to theAsteraceae family. However, they may also visit several other types of flowerssuch as those belonging to Rosaceae and Brassicaceae families.

Apoidea Halictus plant preference fauna flora Asteraceae Mediterranean Turkey

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