Evaluating competition for forage plants between honey bees and wild bees in Denmark

A recurrent concern in nature conservation is the potential competition for forage plants between wild bees and managed honey bees. Specifically, that the highly sophisticated system of recruitment and large perennial colonies of honey bees quickly exhaust forage resources leading to the local extirpation of wild bees. However, different species of bees show different preferences for forage plants. We here summarize known forage plants for honey bees and wild bee species at national scale in Denmark. Our focus is on floral resources shared by honey bees and wild bees, with an emphasis on both threatened wild bee species and foraging specialist species. Across all 292 known bee species from Denmark, a total of 410 plant genera were recorded as forage plants. These included 294 plant genera visited by honey bees and 292 plant genera visited by different species of wild bees. Honey bees and wild bees share 176 plant genera in Denmark. Comparing the pairwise niche overlap for individual bee species, no significant relationship was found between their overlap and forage specialization or conservation status. Network analysis of the bee-plant interactions placed honey bees aside from most other bee species, specifically the module containing the honey bee had fewer links to any other modules, while the remaining modules were more highly inter-connected. Despite the lack of predictive relationship from the pairwise niche overlap, data for individual species could be summarized. Consequently, we have identified a set of operational parameters that, based on a high foraging overlap (>70%) and unfavorable conservation status (Vulnerable+Endangered+Critically Endangered), can guide both conservation actions and land management decisions in proximity to known or suspected populations of these species

National records of 3000 European bee and hoverfly species: A contribution to pollinator conservation

Pollinators play a crucial role in ecosystems globally, ensuring the seed production of most flowering plants. They are threatened by global changes and knowledge of their distribution at the national and continental levels is needed to implement efficient conservation actions, but this knowledge is still fragmented and/or difficult to access. As a step forward, we provide an updated list of around 3000 European bee and hoverfly species, reflecting their current distributional status at the national level (in the form of present, absent, regionally extinct, possibly extinct or non-native). This work was attainable by incorporating both published and unpublished data, as well as knowledge from a large set of taxonomists and ecologists in both groups. After providing the first National species lists for bees and hoverflies for many countries, we examine the current distributional patterns of these species and designate the countries with highest levels of species richness. We also show that many species are recorded in a single European country, highlighting the importance of articulating European and national conservation strategies. Finally, we discuss how the data provided here can be combined with future trait and Red List data to implement research that will further advance pollinator conservation

Book Review: Marshall S.A. 2023: Hymenoptera. The Natural History & Diversity of Wasps, Bees & Ants.

Marshall S.A. 2023: Hymenoptera. The Natural History & Diversity of Wasps, Bees & Ants. Firefly Books, Richmond Hill, ON, 638 pp. ISBN 978-0228103714. Hardback. Price CDN 95.00

La maintenance robotisée : un challenge pour l’énergie de fusion

La maintenance robotisée est un défi essentiel et continu pour le développement du réacteur de fusion. Débutées à JET afin de répondre aux exigences de manipulation des éléments de première paroi contaminés en béryllium, les opérations de maintenance robotisées et les équipements associés sont à développer afin de permettre la maintenance de composants hautement activés et contaminés à l’intérieur de l’enceinte à vide comme le divertor et les éléments de couverture. Les équipements de robotique d’ITER comprennent des dispositifs séparés pour l’inspection, la maintenance et la réparation de composants comme les cassettes de divertor, les couvertures de protection, les injecteurs de neutres, les “port-plugs”, etc. Un système dédié est aussi nécessaire pour transférer ces éléments depuis l’enceinte à vide jusqu’aux cellules chaudes. A cause des exigences élevées qui sont demandées, il est hautement recommandé de réaliser l’assemblage initial d’ITER en utilisant les moyens de télémaintenance quand l’accès humain est encore possible à des fins d’entraînement et de supervision des opérations de maintenance. Le démarrage d’ITER pleinement opérationnel d’un point de vue maintenance des composants, inspection et moyen transfert vers les cellules chaudes est aussi à considérer. L’étape après ITER en vue du réacteur électrogène est un démonstrateur avec ses défis encore plus complexes pour développer et tester une maintenance robotisée compatible avec des exigences de disponibilité élevée. Celle-ci est en effet une condition impérative pour garantir la compétitivité économique des futurs réacteurs de fusion. Comparée à la fission avec des opérations de maintenance plus simples comme le remplacement de combustible ou des opérations d’inspections de cuves ou de composants primaires où l’intervention humaine reste possible même pendant des courtes périodes, la maintenance d’un réacteur de fusion exige des séquences d’opérations complexes où l’accès humain et la vision ne sont pas possibles

Nesting behaviour and description of mature larva of Lindenius albilabris (Fabricius, 1793) (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)

Nesting habits of the digger wasp Lindenius albilabris (Fabricius, 1793) at two localities in Poland were studied. The female hunts nymphs or adults of plant bugs Lygus rugulipennis Poppius, 1911 and L. pratensis (Linnaeus, 1758), depositing up to 10 individuals per cell, depending on their size. Nests are built in a wide variety of sandy habitats, on dirt roads, and in wastelands. The nest consists of a 10–12 cm long main burrow and one to three cells. Males are usually found on flowers of wild carrots Achillea millefolium, Daucus carota, Peucedanum oreoselinum, Pimpinella sp. and Tanacetum vulgare. The nest kleptoparasite Metopia argyrocephala was recorded in nests of this species. The mature larva is first described in this study and its morphology is compared with other species of the genus