A pictorial key for identification of the hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of the Madeira Archipelago

BACKGROUND: Syrphid flies are important ecological indicators and provide crucial ecosystem services, being important pollinators and biological control agents of insect pests. These charismatic insects are conspicuous and, due to their size and colourful patterns, are relatively easy to identify. However, the lack of user-friendly literature (e.g. photographic guides) for most areas may hamper its wider selection as a study group in biodiversity and ecological studies. The syrphid fauna of Madeira Archipelago comprises 26 species, including four endemics (Eumerus hispidus Smit, Aguiar & Wakeham-Dawson, 2004; Melanostoma wollastoni Wakeham-Dawson, Aguiar, Smit, McCullough & Wyatt, 2004; Myathropa usta, Wollaston, 1858 and Xanthandrus babyssa, Walker, 1849), but, despite the current good taxonomic knowledge on this group, information on species distribution, ecology and conservation is still lacking. Here, we provide a pictorial key to the adult hoverflies of Madeira Archipelago highlighting diagnostic characteristics and present photographs of both males and females (in dorsal and lateral views) in colour plates. The key and plates will help researchers to differentiate these species, thus encouraging the use of this insect group in future bioindication studies. In addition, this study also aims to engage a broader audience of non-experts in improving the knowledge on the distribution and ecology of Madeira syrphids. NEW INFORMATION: We provide a checklist for the hoverflies of Madeira Archipelago and a pictorial key to help on species identification.We acknowledge the financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through project PTDC/BIA-BIC/1013/2014, UIDB/00329/2020-2024 and contract DL57/2016/CP1375/CT0001 to MB. We also thank Instituto das Florestas e da Conservação da Natureza (IFCN) for allowing the collection of specimens in Madeira Archipelago.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Where to "Rock"? Choice of retreat sites by a gecko in a semi-arid habitat

The Selvagens gecko (Tarentola boettgeri bischoffi Joger, 1984) is a medium sized gecko endemic to the Selvagens archipelago, Madeira, Portugal. The biology of this gecko is poorly known and in this study we present the first evidence regarding its habitat use. In 2010 (spring and autumn) and 2011 (spring), we collected data on the characteristics of the habitat surrounding 168 rocks used by these geckos as retreat sites, as well as on 75 randomly selected rocks. We also recorded body measurements of the individuals caught under each rock. In both seasons retreat site occupancy was found to be related to rock area, with geckos being found mainly under large rocks. Interestingly, we found that in spring heavier males, in better body condition, occupied the largest rocks and larger geckos occupied rocks closer to creek beds. Our results shed some light upon the behavioural ecology of this nocturnally active ecto-therm, that spends the day under a retreat site: i) intraspecific competition may be an ecological factor prevalent in this species, since larger individuals occupy larger rocks, located in a presumably high quality micro-habitat; ii) the possibility of spring territoriality in males, that compete for good quality shelters.Peer reviewe

Where to “Rock”? Choice of retreat sites by a gecko in a semi-arid habitat

The Selvagens gecko (Tarentola boettgeri bischoffi Joger, 1984) is a medium sized gecko endemic to the Selvagens archipelago, Madeira, Portugal. The biology of this gecko is poorly known and in this study we present the first evidence regarding its habitat use. In 2010 (spring and autumn) and 2011 (spring), we collected data on the characteristics of the habitat surrounding 168 rocks used by these geckos as retreat sites, as well as on 75 randomly selected rocks. We also recorded body measurements of the individuals caught under each rock. In both seasons retreat site occupancy was found to be related to rock area, with geckos being found mainly under large rocks. Interestingly, we found that in spring heavier males, in better body condition, occupied the largest rocks and larger geckos occupied rocks closer to creek beds. Our results shed some light upon the behavioural ecology of this nocturnally active ectotherm, that spends the day under a retreat site: i) intraspecific competition may be an ecological factor prevalent in this species, since larger individuals occupy larger rocks, located in a presumably high quality micro-habitat; ii) the possibility of spring territoriality in males, that compete for good quality shelters

The InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: DNA barcodes of Iberian Bees

Bees are important actors in terrestrial ecosystems and are recognised for their prominent role as pollinators. In the Iberian Peninsula, approximately 1,100 bee species are known, with nearly 100 of these species being endemic to the Peninsula. A reference collection of DNA barcodes, based on morphologically identified bee specimens, representing 514 Iberian species, was constructed. The "InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: DNA Barcodes of Iberian bees" dataset contains records of 1,059 sequenced specimens. The species of this dataset correspond to about 47% of Iberian bee species diversity and 21% of endemic species diversity. For peninsular Portugal only, the corresponding coverage is 71% and 50%. Specimens were collected between 2014 and 2022 and are deposited in the research collection of Thomas Wood (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, The Netherlands), in the FLOWer Lab collection at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), in the Andreia Penado collection at the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP) (Portugal) and in the InBIO Barcoding Initiative (IBI) reference collection (Vairão, Portugal).Of the 514 species sequenced, 75 species from five different families are new additions to the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) and 112 new BINs were added. Whilst the majority of species were assigned to a single BIN (94.9%), 27 nominal species were assigned to multiple BINs. Although the placement into multiple BINs may simply reflect genetic diversity and variation, it likely also represents currently unrecognised species-level diversity across diverse taxa, such as Amegilla albigena Lepeletier, 1841, Andrena russula Lepeletier, 1841, Lasioglossum leucozonium (Schrank, 1781), Nomada femoralis Morawitz, 1869 and Sphecodes alternatus Smith, 1853. Further species pairs of Colletes, Hylaeus and Nomada were placed into the same BINs, emphasising the need for integrative taxonomy within Iberia and across the Mediterranean Basin more broadly. These data substantially contribute to our understanding of bee genetic diversity and DNA barcodes in Iberia and provide an important baseline for ongoing taxonomic revisions in the West Palaearctic biogeographical region

Base de datos de abejas ibéricas

Las abejas son un grupo extremadamente diverso con más de 1000 especies descritas en la península ibérica. Además, son excelentes polinizadores y aportan numerosos servicios ecosistémicos fundamentales para la mayoría de ecosistemas terrestres. Debido a los diversos cambios ambientales inducidos por el ser humano, existen evidencias del declive de algunas de sus poblaciones para ciertas especies. Sin embargo, conocemos muy poco del estado de conservación de la mayoría de especies y de muchas de ellas ignoramos cuál es su distribución en la península ibérica. En este trabajo presentamos un esfuerzo colaborativo para crear una base de datos de ocurrencias de abejas que abarca la península ibérica e islas Baleares que permitirá resolver cuestiones como la distribución de las diferentes especies, preferencia de hábitat, fenología o tendencias históricas. En su versión actual, esta base de datos contiene un total de 87 684 registros de 923 especies recolectados entre 1830 y 2022, de los cuales un 87% presentan información georreferenciada. Para cada registro se incluye información relativa a la localidad de muestreo (89%), identificador y colector de la especie (64%), fecha de captura (54%) y planta donde se recolectó (20%). Creemos que esta base de datos es el punto de partida para conocer y conservar mejor la biodiversidad de abejas en la península ibérica e Islas Baleares. Se puede acceder a estos datos a través del siguiente enlace permanente: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6354502ABSTRACT: Bees are a diverse group with more than 1000 species known from the Iberian Peninsula. They have increasingly received special attention due to their important role as pollinators and providers of ecosystem services. In addition, various rapid human-induced environmental changes are leading to the decline of some of its populations. However, we know very little about the conservation status of most species and for many species, we hardly know their true distributions across the Iberian Peninsula. Here, we present a collaborative effort to collate and curate a database of Iberian bee occurrences to answer questions about their distribution, habitat preference, phenology, or historical trends. In total we have accumulated 87 684 records from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands of 923 different species with 87% of georeferenced records collected between 1830 and 2022. In addition, each record has associated information such as the sampling location (89%), collector and person who identified the species (64%), date of the capture (54%) and plant species where the bees were captured (20%). We believe that this database is the starting point to better understand and conserve bee biodiversity in the Iberian Peninsula. It can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6354502Esta base de datos se ha realizado con la ayuda de los proyectos EUCLIPO (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-028360/EUCLIPO) y SAFEGUARD (ref. 101003476 H2020 -SFS-2019-2).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cavity occurrence and use by hole-nesting birds in Pyrenean managed oak forests

Tese de mestrado, Biologia (Biologia da Conservação), 2009, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasResumo alargado em português disponível no documentoThis study examines cavity occurrence and use by hole-nesting birds in managed Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) forests in the southern Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). In 2007, cavity occurrence and use were assessed in 12 plots (6 in old forests, 6 in young forests), covering a total area of 97ha. Overall, 720 cavities from 466 trees were assessed. Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) results showed that cavity trees were significantly larger than non-cavity-trees. Besides, cavity-trees were decayed in a significantly higher proportion than non-cavity-trees. Large decayed trees provided woodpeckers with suitable substrate for excavation, and were also a source of nonexcavated natural cavities. For nesting, birds preferred living trees, longer cavity depths, cavities with narrower entrances, woodpecker-created cavities and smaller diameter trees. The smaller holes may be preferred to avoid the access of medium and large sized predators. Similarly, deeper cavities may prevent predators from reaching them to remove chicks. Even if woodpecker-created cavities were preferred by birds, most of the cavities were not created by woodpeckers and only a small proportion of woodpecker-created cavities were used by birds (12%), so the role of woodpecker as keystone species in this area could not be confirmed. The preference for living trees may be related to cavity microclimate stability, as living trees heat and cool more slowly than decayed trees, leading to more stable temperatures. The preference for cavity-trees with smaller diameter may be due to the presence of large decayed trees unable to hold a nest. Taking into account that cavity-trees had larger diameters than non-cavity-trees, and that trees occupied by birds were smaller than non-occupied cavity-trees, many birds occupied medium-size trees. Nest-entrance tended to be oriented to East-Southeast, perhaps because such sunny orientations help to warm young and keep the cavity dry. Cavity and nest densities were higher in old forests in relation to young forests, perhaps because old forests provide higher availability of large decayed trees, which are important sources of cavities. Overall, occupation was low (19%), which may be due to the presence of a high proportion of low quality cavities which were unsuitable for nesting. Alternatively, intra- and interspecific territoriality may lead to low occupation rates of cavitie

Rana iberica (Boulenger, 1879) goes underground: subterranean habitat usage and new insights on natural history

Reports of amphibians exploiting subterranean habitats are common, with salamanders being the most frequent and studied inhabitants. Anurans can occasionally be observed in caves and other subterranean habitats, but in contrast to salamanders, breeding had never been reported in a cave or similar subterranean habitat in Western Europe. Based on observations during visits to a drainage gallery in Serra da Estrela, Portugal, from May 2010 to December 2012, here we document: (i) first report of Rana iberica reproduction in cave-like habitat, representing the fourth report of an anuran for the Palearctic ecozone; (ii) oophagic habits of the tadpoles of R. iberica; and (iii) Salamandra salamandra predation on R. iberica larvae. These observations, particularly of R. iberica, highlight our lack of knowledge of subterranean ecosystems in the Iberian Peninsula

The effects of climate and land abandonment on Iberian bees

The emerging threat of pollinator declines has motivated research on bee ecology to understand the causes of declines and to develop appropriate conservation strategies. The main drivers of decline are anthropogenic and include: loss of habitat to agricultural intensification; use of pesticides; climate change; and alien species. However, in many parts of the world, knowledge of bee ecology and spatial distributions is scarce and the impacts of these stressors on bee populations are poorly understood. The Iberian Peninsula, located in the south-western part of Europe is one of the regions in Europe where there is large knowledge gap in relation to bee distribution and their conservation status. Additionally, the region has experienced the expansion of farmland abandonment in remote areas due to poor soils and rural depopulation. This thesis investigates how bee distributions in the Iberia Peninsula are shaped by climate using innovative tools such as Species Distribution Modelling (SDMs). It also evaluates how farmland abandonment shapes bee communities and their ecological interactions along an environmental gradient. The main findings reveal a) the climatic distributions of bumblebees, highlighting under-sampled areas in Iberia where rare species are likely to occur; b) the negative effect of land abandonment on bees in the intermediate successional stages such as shrublands; c) great beta diversity, with higher differences in species composition between sites (ßRepl) in early-successional stages such as grasslands d) plant-bee interactions become more specialized along a secondary succession triggered by land abandonment. Overall, this thesis provides novel information on the ecology of bees and proposes the best management practices for Iberian bee conservation including the need to control the proliferation of intermediate successional stages in the landscape while preserving grasslands and forests

A pictorial key for identification of the hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of the Madeira Archipelago

Syrphid flies are important ecological indicators and provide crucial ecosystem services, being important pollinators and biological control agents of insect pests. These charismatic insects are conspicuous and, due to their size and colourful patterns, are relatively easy to identify. However, the lack of user-friendly literature (e.g. photographic guides) for most areas may hamper its wider selection as a study group in biodiversity and ecological studies. The syrphid fauna of Madeira Archipelago comprises 26 species, including four endemics (Eumerus hispidus Smit, Aguiar & Wakeham-Dawson, 2004; Melanostoma wollastoni Wakeham-Dawson, Aguiar, Smit, McCullough & Wyatt, 2004; Myathropa usta, Wollaston, 1858 and Xanthandrus babyssa, Walker, 1849), but, despite the current good taxonomic knowledge on this group, information on species distribution, ecology and conservation is still lacking. Here, we provide a pictorial key to the adult hoverflies of Madeira Archipelago highlighting diagnostic characteristics and present photographs of both males and females (in dorsal and lateral views) in colour plates. The key and plates will help researchers to differentiate these species, thus encouraging the use of this insect group in future bioindication studies. In addition, this study also aims to engage a broader audience of non-experts in improving the knowledge on the distribution and ecology of Madeira syrphids.We provide a checklist for the hoverflies of Madeira Archipelago and a pictorial key to help on species identification

The fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) of the Madeira archipelago with the description of a new Oedosphenella Frey

A checklist of the tephritid fauna (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Madeira archipelago is presented, including 17 known species and new distribution records for Porto Santo and Desertas Islands. An identification key to Madeira Tephritidae species with detailed illustrations is also provided. A new species of Oedosphenella Frey 1936, discovered in Madeira Island in 2004, is described as Oedosphenella bob sp. n. This genus is redefined and a key to the known species is provided. Comparative morphological analysis revealed that Bevismyia basuto Munro 1957 from Malawi should be included in the genus Oedosphenella. Therefore, we consider the genus name Oedosphenella Frey 1936 to be a senior synonym of Bevismyia Munro 1957 syn.n.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio