The diversity of Parisian bees. - Despite the forever increasing urbanization, cities often shelter a significant biodiversity. As many other taxa, wild bees may find refuge in urban areas because of relative favorable conditions compared to intensive agricultural environments. In this study, we compiled our joint work to extend the list of Parisian bees. Over 4 years of monitoring (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016), we recorded 87 bee species in intra-muros Paris. In 2016 we added net captures to our sampling procedures with colored pan traps, which provided 11 additional species. The assemblage now represents 8.8 % of the French fauna of Apoïdae. However, this assemblage is mostly dominated by Halictidae and includes only few kleptoparasitic species highlighting an impoverished community.

The occurrence and distribution of the various species of the genus Pelecocera Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae) occurring in France are revised and a new species, Pelecocera garrigae Lair & Nève, 2022 sp. nov., is described from Mediterranean France. Distribution and ecological data of the six French species of Pelecocera are provided and an identification key is given to all these species. Sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) from all European Pelecocera species support the morphological species concept, except for Pelecocera scaevoides (Fallén, 1817). The binomen Pelecocera lugubris Perris, 1839 is recovered to name the Pelecocera lusitanica (Mik, 1898) of authors in France.

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Update of knowledge on the bee Megachile sculpturalis SMITH, 1853 in France and Europe (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). - Megachile sculpturalis is a bee native to eastern Asia that is now also present in North America and Europe. This article follows the first synthesis on the ecology and geographical distribution in Europe of this species published in this same journal in 2018 and updates their knowledge. Megachile sculpturalis has been observed in 13 European countries. Its range now extends from the French Atlantic coast in the west to the Crimean Peninsula in the east. It has also been recorded on two Mediterranean islands, Elba (Italy) and Mallorca (Spain). In France, between 2008 and 2020, it was observed in 259 communes in 46 departments. The most northerly French observation was made in 2020 near Reims in the Marne department. Concerning feeding behaviour, new pollen analyses corroborate the results of previous ones which suggested a polylectic diet with a marked preference for shrubs of Asian origin (especially Sophora japonica and Ligustrum sp.). Regarding nesting behaviour, M. sculpturalis makes extensive use of bee hotels. However, a range of diameters (holes in logs or sections of plant stems) between 4 and 8 mm is suitable for the main native species likely to nest in the hotels, while limiting the establishment of M. sculpturalis. New observations have confirmed the tendency of M. sculpturalis to empty the nests of other species in order to establish its own larval cells. In addition, in Switzerland, a female was observed killing a bee of the genus Heriades. Such events, if frequent, could have negative impacts on native bees, but data are currently insufficient to quantify these impacts on populations.

L'étude du contenu pollinique de deux échantillons prélevés, soit sur un spécimen de Megachile sculpturalis Smith, 1853, soit dans la loge d'un "hôtel à insectes" fréquenté par cet Hyménoptère, livre des indications préliminaires sur le comportement de butinage et sur le régime alimentaire de cette abeille invasive dont la première observation en France date de 2008. La domination des assemblages polliniques par le pollen de Sophora, une Fabaceae arborescente originaire d'Asie et plantée essentiellement dans les parcs et jardins en France, témoigne de la préférence de Megachile sculpturalis pour cette essence, au moins dans la localité étudiée. L'étude se basant seulement sur deux échantillons, de nouvelles analyses sont nécessaires pour approfondir les connaissances sur ses besoins alimentaires et pour statuer sur une éventuelle préférence ou spécialisation sur Sophora japonica pour la collecte du pollen.