Wild bees of the proposed nature reserve “Skarpa Wiœlana” in Mêæmierz (Kazimierski Landscape Park). Part 1 – long-tongued bees Megachilidae and Apidae

This paper presents data on bees of the families Megachilidae and Apidae (Apoidea) of the proposed nature reserve “Skarpa Wiœlana” in Mêæmierz (Kazimierski Landscape Park). Distributional and phenological data are given. Thirty-one species of Megachilidae and forty-three species of Apidae were collected. For rare and very rare species (Anthidium oblongatum (ILLIGER, 1806); Heriades crenulatus NYLANDER, 1856; Hoplitis claviventris (THOMSON,1872); Hoplitis papaveris (LATREILLE, 1799); Megachile genalis MORAWITZ, 1880; Osmia cerinthidis MORAWITZ, 1876; Stelis odontopyga NOSKIEWICZ, 1926; Stelis ornatula (KLUG,1807); Epeoloides coecutiens (FABRICIUS, 1775); Eucera interrupta BAER, 1850; Nomada bifasciata OLIVIER, 1811; Nomada stigma FABRICIUS, 1804; Nomada zonata PANZER, 1798) this paper summarizes information about their distribution in 21st century in Poland, as well as data on their bionomics and their present status of threat in Europe.


I. INTRODUCTION
"Skarpa Wioelana" is a fragment of steep slope situated on the edge of the valley of the Vistula River near Kazimierz Dolny (Fig. 2). In order to protect the xerothermic grasslands and shrubs, habitats of rare animal species, and habitats that could be repopulated with endangered plant species, HARASIMIUK et al. (1987) proposed the creation of a floristic reserve in Mêaemierz. Knowledge of the entomofauna of the proposed nature reserve "Skarpa Wioelana" in Mêaemierz is fragmentary, however, what data there is allows it to be considered rich and interesting. More extensive data concern: Thysanoptera -KUCHARCZYK (1997); Hemiptera -CMOLUCHOWA (1964), GOLAN et al. (2001), £AGOWSKA & GOLAN (2002); Lepidoptera -BUSZKO (1997); and some groups of Coleoptera: Staphylinidae -STANIEC (2003), and Curculionidae -CMOLUCH (1971). Unfourtunately, there is very little data about wild bees in the area of Mêaemierz. Some information about the bees of this area can be found in the papers of RUSZKOWSKI et al. (1994RUSZKOWSKI et al. ( , 2004 and WIOENIOWSKI et al. (2018), however these publications concern only three species of bees, among which particularly noteworthy is Eucera nigrescens PÉREZ, 1879, a rare species in Poland (BANASZAK 2000a).

II. STUDY AREA
The proposed nature reserve "Skarpa Wioelana" in Mêaemierz (UTM -EB68) is situated on the outskirts of the Be³¿yce Plain Mesoregion, in the area of the Kazimierski Landscape Park, about 4 km south of Kazimierz Dolny (Fig. 1). The locality of Mêaemierz is part of the Nature 2000 -The Lesser Poland Gorge of the Vistula (PLH 060045). The total area of "Skarpa Wioelana" is 9.27 ha. In recent years, protective measures in counteracting plant succession and the fragmentation of xerothermic communities has been carried out in the area of the planned nature reserve "Skarpa Wioelana" (PAW£OWSKI 2009).

III. MATERIAL AND METHODS
Field research was conducted over the course of six growing seasons, from 2010-2015. Two methods were used to collect bees: yellow pan traps (Moericke traps) and hand-netting (by searching on flowers and at the bees' favourite nesting sites). Hand-netting was used periodically every 10-14 days, throughout the duration of the field research period. Each collection time was about four hours. The Moericke traps were used from April until the beginning of September in 2013-2015. Moericke traps were placed on the ground's surface. We used three, yellow plastic bowls, 20 cm in diameter, 2/3rds of the way filled with a mixture of water (95%), ethylene glycol (4.8%), and a detergent (0.2%) added to decrease surface tension. Captured insects were removed from the traps every 10 days. The collected bees are stored in the entomological collection of the Apiculture Division of Research Institute of Horticulture in Pu³awy. All specimens were collected by M. BORAÑSKI.
Classification into families and genera and their systematic arrangement has been presented according to SCHEUCHL & WILLNER (2016). The following publications were used to identify the species of bees: BANASZAK & ROMASENKO (1998); CELARY (1995a); KASPAREK (2015); PAWLIKOWSKI (1996); SCHEUCHL (2000), (2006); SMIT (2018);WARNCKE (1992). The species of the Bombus lucorum-complex (BOSSERT 2015) are not distinguishable by morphological features and additionally, B. lucorum and B. terrestris are easily confused (WOLF et al. 2010), therefore data on the occurrence of bumblebees of the subgenus Bombus LATREILLE, 1802 = Terrestribombus VOGT, 1911 are summarized. Honey bees (Apis mellifera LINNAEUS, 1758) were observed at all times during the study but this species was not included because of its anthropogenic origin. The zoogeographical partitioning of the regions of Poland follows the one used in the Catalogue of Polish Fauna (BURAKOWSKI et al. 1978). IUCN categories of threat are given after NIETO et al. (2014). Status of threat in particular European countries is given after available regional red lists or red books of threatened species.
CR -Critically Endangered -species, whose numbers have decreased to a critical level, which persists at single localities, or whose rate of decline is within the range of values established by the IUCN. The survival of species belonging to this category is rather unlikely without active protection focused, among others, on elimination of causes of extinction.
EN -Endangered -species facing a very high risk of extinction because of small populations, a fragmented, insular range, and/or a quick rate of population decline.
VU -Vulnerable -species facing a high risk of extinction due to continuing population decline and habitat loss or over-exploitation; however, the observed or prognosticated rate of their decline is slower than in the case of taxa assigned to the higher categories of threat.
NT -Near Threatened -species that maybe considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although they don't currently qualify for the threatened status.
LC -Least Concern -species that have been been evaluated and do not qualify for any other category.
DD -Data Deficient -species where there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of their risk of extinction based on their distribution and/or population status.
Abbreviations  The present status of threat in Europe is unknown. H. crenulatus is listed on the European Red List of Bees as least concern (NIETO et al. 2014), but due to the species' wide distribution and solitary behaviour, it is presumed to have a large population (LHOMME 2014a). The species is listed as least concern on the National Red Lists of the Netherlands (PEETERS & REEMER 2003) and Germany (WESTRICH et al. 2011). In Poland, until the 21st century, this species was known from only six records in the Pomeranian Lakeland, Wielkopolska-Kujawy Lowland, Mazovian Lowland, Ma³opolska Upland, and Lublin Upland (CELARY & WIOENIOWSKI 2011). In recent years, a dynamic spreading of this Subponto-Mediterranean species has been observed all over the country, which may be related to climate change. Dynamic changes in species dispersion in relation to climatic changes have been documented in bumblebees (KERR et al. 2015 and solitary bees (HOFMANN et al. 2018).  This species is listed on the European Red List of Bees as least concern (NIETO et al. 2014), due to the species' wide distribution and solitary behaviour, it is presumed to have a large population (LHOMME 2014b). The species is listed as least concern in the National Red Lists of the Netherlands (PEETERS & REEMER 2003) and Germany (WESTRICH et al. 2011) and it is very rare in Portugal (BALDOCK et al. 2018). In Poland, until the 21st century, this species was known from 11 records in the Baltic Coast, Pomeranian Lakeland, Masurian Lakeland, Wielkopolska-Kujawy Lowland, Lublin Upland, Roztocze, and Western Beskidy Mts (CELARY & WIOENIOWSKI 2007). In recent years, a dynamic spreading of this Palaearctic species has been observed all over the country, which may be related to climate change. . They nest in preexisting cavities in the soil, seldomly excavating their own tunnels. The nest consists of one cell, sometimes two cells, with all walls constructed of bits of petals (BANASZAK & ROMASENKO 1998). The females usually cut fragments of petals of Papaver rhoeas L., Cyanus segetum HILL, Malva moschata L., Helianthemum spp. and Genista tinctoria L. (WESTRICH 1990 (2007) The present status of threat in Europe is unknown. According to the IUNC Red List (Europe), their category is least concern (NIETO et al. 2014), but H. papaveris is probably extinct in the Czech Republic (STRAKA & BOGUSCH 2017), Switzerland (AMIET 1994), and in the Netherlands (PEETERS & REEMER 2003). In Germany it is critically endangered (WESTRICH et al. 2011). In the "Red List of Threatened Animals in Poland", it is listed as vulnerable (G£OWACIÑSKI 2002). This is the first record of this species in the Lublin Upland.

Megachile genalis
This Palaearctic species occurs from Spain through Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Sibe-ria and Central Asia to the Pacific coast in the Far East; north to the Baltics, in Russia to Kirov and Perm; south to Lazio, Croatia, southern Romania, southern Turkey and Northern Caucasus (SCHEUCHL & WILLNER 2016). This is an oligolectic species on Asteraceae (SCHEUCHL 2006). Females usualy build nests in the stems of Allium cepa L., Angelica sylvestris L., Carduus acanthoides L., Carduus crispus L., Circaea spp., Cirsium palustre (L.) Coss. ex Scop., Conium maculatum L., Dahlia pinnata CAV., Echinops sphaerocephalus L. and The present status of threat in Europe is unknown. On the IUNC Red List (Europe), it is listed as least concern (NIETO et al. 2014). This species is near threatened in Germany (WESTRICH et al. 2011) andvulnerable in Poland (G£OWACIÑSKI 2002). In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of localities of this species in Poland, however A. oblongatum is still considered to be a rare species (B¥K-BADOWSKA 2014). This species was observed on the flowers of Rubus L., Potentilla L., Lotus L., Viccia L., Ledum L., Hypochoeris L., and Hieracium L. ). In Poland S. ornatula has been found nearly throughout the country, but always on a rare basis (CELARY 1989, BANASZAK et al. 2001, BANASZAK 2010c  The present status of threat in Europe is unknown. On the IUNC Red List (Europe), it is listed as least concern (NIETO et al. 2014). The species is rare, yet widely distributed throughout its range. The overall population is presumed to be relatively large for a parasitic bee (

Epeoloides coecutiens
This rare cleptoparasitic bee occurs exclusively in Europe, mainly in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe and in northern parts of Southern Europe (WESTRICH 1990;SCHEUCHL 2000). Females of E. coecutiens lay their eggs in the nests of Macropis fulvipes (FABRICIUS, 1804) and Macropis europaea WARNCKE, 1973(BOGUSCH 2005. Epeoloides coecutiens visits blooming plants e.g. Lythrum salicaria L., Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) SCOP. and Thymus serpyllum L. (CELARY & WIOENIOWSKI 2001). The univoltine, Epeoloides coecutiens flies in July and August, the period corresponding to the nesting period of its hosts (BOGUSCH 2005). This species is observed in different parts of Poland, however, even where it is found, it is very rare (CELARY 1990, PAWLIKOWSKI et al. 1993, BANASZAK 2010c. In the 21st century, E. coecutiens was re- The species was previously considered to be the rarest European cuckoo bee but in some parts of Europe it is clearly quite common . E. coecutiens is listed on the European Red List of Bees as least concern (NIETO et al. 2014), the same status of threat is given in the Netherlands (PEETERS & REEMER 2003) and Germany (WESTRICH et al. 2011). The species is also listed on the National Red Lists as vulnerable in Slovenia (ANONYMOUS 2002) and near threatened in the Czech Republic (STRAKA & BOGUSCH 2017). In the "Red List of Threatened Animals in Poland", it is listed as DD (data deficient) (G£OWACIÑSKI 2002).

Eucera interrupta
This rare Subpontic-Mediterranean species occurs from the Iberian Peninsula in the west, Southern and Central Europe, to Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Kazakhstan in the east, the northern border of its range is the Baltic Sea and Perm, southern: Sicily and Thessaly (SCHEUCHL & WILLNER 2016). These univoltine bees fly from May until the end of July (SCHEUCHL 2000). As an oligolectic species, they collect pollen from the flowers of the Fabaceae family (SCHEUCHL & WILLNER 2016), e.g. Coronilla varia L., Lotus corniculatus, Trifolium pretense, Medicago sativa (RUSZKOWSKI et al. 1994). Their nests have numerous branches, with an average depth of 28 cm; the nest cells are arranged vertically (RUSZKOWSKI et al. 1998). Nests are parasitized by a cuckoo bee, Nomada sexfasciata PANZER, 1799, and probably by Nomada nobilis HERRICH-SCHÄFFER, 1839(SMIT 2018. In the 21st century, PLEWKA (2003) confirms the occurrence of this species in the Mazovian Lowland: DD80 Kampinos NP: near Dziekanów Polski, and only one new locality of this species was published, but it comes from 1927: Wielkopolska-Kujawy Lowland: WU14 Gorzów Wielkopolski -BANASZAK (2006b). The species was considered very common in central Europe at the end of the 19th century, but now the population trend is considered to be decreasing (QUARANTA 2014). Recently, a decline in the population and range of this species has been observed in the Czech Republic (STRAKA & BOGUSCH 2017). In the 20th century, in Poland, E. interrupta could be observed almost anywhere in the country (BANASZAK 1980), but the last known new locality of this species is given by PAWLIKOWSKI et al. This species is observed in different parts of Poland, however, rarely (CELARY 1995a, CELARY & WIOENIOWSKI 2007. The new locality of N. bifasciata in a proposed nature reserve "Skarpa Wioelana" in Mêaemierz is characterized by a high number of specimens of this species. The populations of N. bifasciata seem to be stable (SMIT 2013), and are in the category least concern according to the IUNC Red List (Europe) (NIETO et al. 2014). This species is listed as least concern in Germany (WESTRICH et al. 2011), vulnerable in the Netherlands (PEETERS & REEMER 2003), and deficient data in Poland (G£OWACIÑSKI 2002). In the "Red List of Threatened Animals in Poland" this species was not evaluated. This is the first record of this species from the Lublin Upland.

Nomada zonata
This rare cuckoo bee lives in North Africa (Morocco) and in Eurasia, from Portugal through Southern and Central Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus to Central Asia; north to the Baltics, in Russia to Kirov and Perm; south to Sardinia, Emilia-Romagna, Peloponnese and northern Iran (SCHEUCHL & WILLNER 2016). They are a cleptoparasite of Andrena dorsata (KIRBY, 1802), possibly also Andrena congruens SCHMIEDEKNECHT, 1883(SMIT 2018. N. zonata has two generations: from April to May and from July to August (CELARY 1995a). The species mainly visits flowers from the family Asteraceae but also visits some flowers from Crassulaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rhamnaceae The present status of threat in Europe is unknown. On the IUNC Red List (Europe) this species is classified as least concern (NIETO et al. 2014). It is listed on National Red Lists as probably extinct in Slovenia (Anonymous 2002), near threatened in the Netherlands (PEETERS & REEMER 2003) and Germany (WESTRICH et al. 2011), and least concern in Poland (G£OWACIÑSKI 2002). Nomada zonata is also a rare species in Lithuania (MONSEVIÈIUS 2004), Hungary (JÓZAN 2011), the United Kingdom (FALK &LEWINGTON 2015), andPortugal (BALDOCK et al. 2018). This is the first record of this species from the Lublin Upland.

Megachilidae
Based on DYLEWSKA studies (DYLEWSKA 1987(DYLEWSKA , 2000 the fauna of Megachilidae inhabiting the proposed nature reserve "Skarpa Wioelana" belong to three phenological groups.  Table 3. The results in Table 3 show that the most numerous are the summer species (20 species -64.5%, while the late spring species constitute no more than 29% of the Megachilidae inhabiting the Mêaemierz, and the early spring species are rarest (2 species -nearly 6.5%).
The results in Table 4 indicate that the most numerous group includes the early spring species (16 species -53.34%), while the remaining ones are less numerous (both 7 species -23.33%).
In the study area, we recorded 74 species of wild, long-tongued bees (31 of Megachilidae and 43 of Apidae). This constitutes 35% of the fauna of long-tongue bees in Poland. Among of the longtongued bees of the proposed reserve "Skarpa Wioelana", twelve species are included in the "Polish Red List of Threatened and Endangered Animals" (G£OWACIÑSKI 2002), three of them are vulnerable: Anthidium oblongatum, Hoplitis papaveris, Osmia cerinthidis. All of the recorded species are listed on the IUCN Red List of Bees (NIETO et al. 2014). Despite 6 years of research, we did not find Eucera nigrescens -a species that occured in this area in the 80's of the last century (given as Eucera tuberculata FABRICIUS, 1793) (RUSZKOWSKI et al. 1994) -a rare species in Poland (BANASZAK 2000a).
The species diversity of long-tongued wild bees in the proposed reserve "Skarpa Wioelana" can be compared with research conducted in similar habitats. In the research conducted in the reserves of xerothermic vegetation of the Nadnidziañski Landscape Park (B¥K-BADOWSKA 2012a, 2012c), 62 species of long-tongued bees were recorded, also BANASZAK (2003) from the "Góry Pieprzowe" reserve, lists fewer species -64. BANASZAK et al. (2006) recorded 99 species of long-tongued bees (43 Megachilidae and 56 Apidae) in the xerothermic swards of the lower Vistula valley, however, the research area was much larger and included 17 locations. Individually analyzed, the number of long-tongued bee species found in particular sites ranged from 2 to 55. This includes the intensively studied xerothermic plant community reserve "Zbocza P³utowskie" (BANASZAK 1975, 1980, BANASZAK & CIERZNIAK 1994, BANASZAK et al. 2006PAWLIKOWSKI & KOWALEWSKA 1998), which is an important refuge for the migration of bees, where 41 species of long-tongued bees were found. Comparable in terms of area, the xerothermic plant reserve "Góra Gipsowa" (8.65 ha) near Kietrz recorded only 45 species belonging to the families Megachilidae and Apidae . Taking into account the above data, as well as how small the area of research was (ap. 10 ha), the number of recorded species in the proposed nature reserve "Skarpa Wioelana" should be considered to be very high indeed.
Considering the phenology of bees, among the Megachilidae, summer species predominated in the studied habitat (64.52%), whereas among the Apidae, the most numerous group was the early spring species (53.34%). The high share of summer species among Megachilidae in xerothermic habitats showed i.a. BANASZAK (2003) in the reserve "Góry Pieprzowe" -70. 1%;BANASZAK et al. (2006) in the xerothermic swards of the lower Vistula valley -72. 1% and BANASZAK et al. (2017) in the reserve "Góra Gipsowa" -76.2%. A large portion of the early spring species of Apidae in "Skarpa Wioelana" (53.34%) is made up of the large number of species from the genus Nomada. A similar relation was recorded in other xerothermic habitats (BANASZAK et al. 2006.
Considering the total number of species, a large number of which are rare and /or endangered species of bees, as well as data on the occurrence of endangered butterfly species in the study area i.a. Chazara briseis (LINNAEUS, 1764) Chelis maculosa (GERNING, 1780), Colias myrmidone (ESPER, 1780), Scolitantides orion (PALLAS, 1771) (BUSZKO 1997, PA£KA 1990, the location "Skarpa Wioelana" should be protected as a nature reserve and kept secured against excessive human incursion. At the site in Mêaemierz, protective measures should be continued consisting of counteracting plant succession and the fragmentation of xerothermic communities.