Range expansion of the Asian native giant resin bee Megachile sculpturalis (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae) in France.

ABSTRACT: In 2008, a new species for the French bee fauna was recorded in Allauch near Marseille: the giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853). This was the first European record of this species that is native to East Asia. To our knowledge, it is the first introduced bee species in Europe. Here, we provide an overview of the current distribution of M. sculpturalis in France and we describe the history of its range expansion. Besides our own observations, information was compiled from literature and Internet websites, and by contacting naturalist networks. We collected a total of 117 records (locality × year combinations) for the 2008-2016 period. The geographical range of M. sculpturalis has extended remarkably, now occupying a third of continental Fr

SUBMITTER: Le Feon V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792562 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature