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. 2021 Jan 14:9:e60665.
doi: 10.3897/BDJ.9.e60665. eCollection 2021.

Distribution of wild bee (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) communities within farms undergoing ecological transition

Grégoire Noel  1 , Julie Bonnet  1 , Sylvain Everaerts  1 , Anouk Danel  1 , Alix Calderan  1 , Alexis de Liedekerke  2 , Clotilde de Montpellier d'Annevoie  3   4 , Frédéric Francis  1 , Laurent Serteyn  1
Affiliations

Distribution of wild bee (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) communities within farms undergoing ecological transition

Grégoire Noel et al. Biodivers Data J. .

Abstract

Background: In Havelange (Belgium), two farms are experiencing an ecological transition. We aimed to evaluate the impact of their agricultural activities on insect pollinator communities. This article depicts the situation at the very early stage of the farm transition. This study supports the fact that the maintenance of farm-level natural habitats provides environmental benefits, such as the conservation of two important pollinator communities: wild bees and hoverflies.

New information: Over two years (2018-2019), by using nets and coloured pan-traps, we collected 6301 bee and hoverfly specimens amongst contrasting habitats within two farmsteads undergoing ecological transition in Havelange (Belgium). We reported 101 bee species and morphospecies from 15 genera within six families and 31 hoverfly species and morphospecies from 18 genera. This list reinforces the national pollinator database by providing new distribution data for extinction-threatened species, such as Andrena schencki Morawitz 1866, Bombus campestris (Panzer 1801), Eucera longicornis (L.) and Halictus maculatus Smith 1848 or for data deficient species, such as A. semilaevis Pérez 1903, A. fulvata (Müller 1766), A. trimmerana (Kirby 1802) and Hylaeus brevicornis Nylander 1852.

Keywords: ecological transition; hoverfly; organic and regenerative farming; wild bee.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A. Location of Havelange Municipality in Belgium; B. The location of the two farmsteads in Havelange.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
A. Froidefontaine farmstead map. GC, PAT, VER and ZH correspond to the sampled parcels, whose details are given in Table 1. Each numbered red dot corresponds to the position of a trio of coloured (white, yellow, blue) pantraps; B. Emeville farmstead map. PAV, FRE, EPI and DIK correspond to the sampled parcels, whose details are given in Table 1. Each numbered red dot corresponds to the position of a trio of coloured (white, yellow, blue) pantraps. BF1, BF2 and BF3 correspond to the sampled flower strips. Each blue or green numbered dot corresponds to the position of a trio of coloured (white, yellow, blue) pantraps for the "feeder" flower patch or the "pollinator" flower patch, respectively.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Mean values of species richness and abundance for bee and hoverfly fauna amongst Froidefontaine parcels GC, PAT, VER and ZH (see details given in Table 1). A. Bee richness; B. Bee abundance; C. Hoverfly richness; D. Hoverfly abundance. Letters above the boxplots represent Tukey's post-hoc comparisons.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Mean values of species richness and abundance for bee and hoverfly fauna amongst Emeville parcels DIK, EPI, FRE and PAV (see details given in Table 1). A. Bee richness; B. Bee abundance; C. Hoverfly richness; D. Hoverfly abundance. Letters above the boxplots represent Tukey's post-hoc comparisons.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Mean values of species richness and abundance for bee and hoverfly fauna amongst flower strips BFB and BFV (see details given in Table 1). A. Bee richness; B. Bee abundance; C. Hoverfly richness; D. Hoverfly abundance. Letters above the boxplots represent Student t-test comparisons.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Dorsal and lateral side of some rare bees observed within the farmsteads. A. Andrena schencki Morawitz 1866; B. Andrena fulvata (Müller 1766); C. Halictus maculatus Smith 1848; D. Melitta leporina (Panzer 1799); E. Hylaeus brevicornis Nylander 1852.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Dorsal and lateral side of some rare hoverfly species observed within the farmsteads. A. Ferdinandea cuprea (Scopoli 1763); B. Xanthogramma pedissequum (Harris 1776); C. Myathropa florea (L.).
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Some field pictures in each farm. A. Froidefontaine wetland (ZH); B. Froidefontaine orchard (VER); C. Double hedgerow between Froidefontaine cultivated parcel (GC) and pasture (PAT); D. Emeville flower strip between FRE and EPI parcels (photo credit : I. Van Dorpe); E. Emeville orchard (PAV).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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