Abstract
The current decline of wild bees puts important ecosystem services such as pollination at risk. Both inventory and monitoring programs are needed to understand the causes of wild bee decline. Effective insect monitoring relies on both mass-trapping methods coupled with rapid and accurate identifications. Identifying wild bees using only morphology can be challenging, in particular, specimens from mass-trapped samples which are often in poor condition. We generated DNA barcodes for 2931 specimens representing 157 species (156 named and one unnamed species) and 28 genera. Automated cluster delineation reveals 172 BINs (Barcodes Index Numbers). A total of 36 species (22.93%) were found in highly urbanized areas. The majority of specimens, representing 96.17% of the species barcoded form reciprocally exclusive groups, allowing their unambiguous identification. This includes several closely related species notoriously difficult to identify. A total of 137 species (87.26%) show a “one-to-one” match between a named species and the BIN assignment. Fourteen species (8.92%) show deep conspecific lineages with no apparent morphological differentiation. Only two species pairs shared the same BIN making their identification with DNA barcodes alone uncertain. Therefore, our DNA barcoding reference library allows reliable identification by non-experts for the vast majority of wild bee species in the Loire Valley.
Highlights
Long-term monitoring programs have documented a sharp decline of insects[1,2,3,4,5]
We found one specimen (MB00149) of an unnamed Andrena species whose Barcode Index Number system (BIN) was new to Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Our barcode analysis revealed one interesting Andrena individual collected in the national reserve of Saint Mesmin, which was assigned to a BIN new to BOLD, and remains unnamed at the species level
Summary
Long-term monitoring programs have documented a sharp decline of insects[1,2,3,4,5]. Through the expansion of impervious surfaces, urbanization is associated with pollinator decline[11,12], some urban green areas such as residential and community gardens, if properly managed, can constitute important refuges for wild b ees[13,14,15]. This factor and the higher temperatures associated with rapid global warming are accelerating the decline of pollinators w orldwide[16,17]. We present 2931 barcodes of 157 wild bee species collected at 29 urban and peri-urban sites in three major cities along the Loire Valley
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