Checklist of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from managed emergent wetlands in the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas

Abstract

Here we present the results from a two-year bee survey conducted on 18 managed emergent wetlands in the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas, USA. Sample methods included pan traps, sweep netting and blue-vane traps. We document 83 bee species and morphospecies in 5 families and 31 genera, of which 37 species represent first published state records for Arkansas. The majority of species were opportunistic wetland species; only a small number were wetland-dependent species or species largely restricted to alluvial plains.We present new distributional records for bee species not previously recorded in managed emergent wetlands and report specimens of thirty-seven species for which no published Arkansas records exist, expanding the known ranges ofCeratinacockerelli,Diadasiaenavata, Lasioglossumcreberrimum, SvastracressoniiandDieunomiatriangulifera. We also distinguish opportunistic wetland bee species from wetland-dependent and alluvial plain-restricted species.