Keywords :
Bee conservation; cemetery; city; management practices; Mediterranean; new species; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Animal Science and Zoology; Insect Science
Abstract :
[en] Morocco is considered to be one of the main diversity hotspots of bees in the Mediterranean basin. However, this fauna remains largely understudied in both urban and natural eco-systems. Bee monitoring primarily conducted during 2023 in an urban area (i.e. Safi) has unveiled three new bee species for Morocco: Lithurgus tibialis, Tetralonia aff. lanzarotensis and Coelioxys ruficauda as well as records of 28 new bee species for the region Marrakech Safi. This work provides descriptions of the spatial distribution, the diagnostic characters, and host plants of these three species. We also take the opportunity to highlight the quality of urban areas as habitats for bees and the importance of implementating bee-friendly management practices to preserve bee species.
Funding text :
We warmly thank Jakub Straka, Andreas M\u00FCller, Romain Le Divelec, Thomas James Wood, Pierre Rasmont, Simone Flaminio, Max Kasparek and Christophe Praz for bee identification. We would like to thank Abderrahim El Karmy and Isaad Es-Sayeh for their help with fieldwork. This research was supported by the Federation Wallonia \u2013 Brussels (FNRS) and the Institute for bioscience, Belgium.
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