Plant Preferences of Halictus Latreille (Halictidae: Hymenoptera) in the Mediterranean Region of Southern Turkey

Abstract

Objective: Lack of information regarding the floral preferences of wild bees is one of the major problems in understandingplant–bee interactions. Therefore, we investigated the plant preferences of Halictus Latreille (Halictidae: Apoidea:Hymenoptera) species that are distributed in the Mediterranean Region of southern Turkey.Materials and Methods: Bees were collected through field studies that were performed during the spring and summerseasons between 2008 and 2009. The flowers visited by bees were also recorded. In total, 516 bee specimens belonging to 19species were collected, and 54 plant taxa were found to be related to these Halictus species. In addition to field study data,information collected from the literature was included in the study. The most commonly visited plant families, genera, andspecies are described using diversity indices scores in terms of the plant taxa preferences of the bees.Results: A total of 516 bee and 195 plant specimens were sampled from 76 stations located in 14 provinces. In total, 54 planttaxa were found to be related to 19 Halictus species. Among such large plant taxa preferences, the most commonly visitedones were Onopordum, Centaurea, and Carduus members.Conclusion: This study suggests that members of the genus Halictus primarily prefer to visit plants belonging to theAsteraceae family. However, they may also visit several other types of flowers such as those belonging to Rosaceae andBrassicaceae families.