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Published June 29, 2026 | Version v1
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New records of wild bees from a spring expedition in southern Türkiye, with six new species for the country (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Anthophila)

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium
  • 2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hacettepe University, Beytepe (Ankara), Türkiye
  • 3. Turkish Doping Control Center, Hacettepe University, Sıhhiye (Ankara), Türkiye
  • 4. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 5. Stiftung Kulturlandschaft Günztal, Ottobeuren, Germany

Description

Bees (Anthophila) are key pollinators, yet major gaps persist in the knowledge of their diversity and distribution, particularly across Mediterranean biodiversity hotspots. Türkiye, located at the intersection of Europe and Asia, hosts amongst the richest bee faunas in the Western Palaearctic, with more than 1,800 recorded species. Despite previous faunistic work, the national fauna remains incompletely documented, as shown by numerous recent species descriptions and new country records. Additional sampling is, therefore, required to improve taxonomic and distributional knowledge and to support biodiversity research and conservation in this highly diversified region.

The dataset comprises 2,070 wild bee specimens collected in southern Türkiye, with 246 identified species. Amongst these, six species are recorded for the first time from Türkiye and several additional noteworthy species of taxonomic, biogeographical or conservation interest are highlighted and illustrated. This dataset provides new, well-documented occurrence records contributing to an improved understanding of bee diversity in the region.

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