Bee Fauna (Apoidea: Hymenoptera) of the Suez Canal Region, Egypt

The diversity of solitary bees varies depending on the vegetation, nesting habitats, and nesting fragmentation. The agriculture development in the Suez Canal region is receiving a great deal of attention in Egypt, thus, the diversity of solitary bees are essential for high quality production of seeds, vegetables, and fruit. The objective of this study was to evaluate the biodiversity of solitary bee populations around the Canal region. About 900 - 1000 specimens of bees were collected from different locations of the Ismailia, Suez, and Sinai Governorates. Fifty-five species of bees were identified. With the exception of Melittidae family, all the bee families were present in the Canal region. The total number of species for each family were 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 species for Andrenidae, Colletidae, Apidae, Halictidae, and Megachilidae, respectively. Lasioglossum mandibularie (Morawitz, 1866) is a newly recorded species collected from Egypt. In the Suez Canal region, the most abundant species found with large populations were Andrena ovatula ssp. ovatula (Kirby, 1802), Ceratina tarsata Morawitz, 1872, and Colletes lacunatus Dours, 1872.