Balkan PolliS

Our project would improve the taxonomic knowledge of hoverfly and bee biodiversity within a European biodiversity hotspot – the Mediterranean Basin including the Balkan Peninsula, with an estimated number of 658 hoverfly and 1397 wild bee species. Digital indexes for a wide range of different hoverfly and bee species will be provided by the nine (sub)collections from Serbia, Greece, Slovenia and Montenegro. Proposed collections include a comprehensive dataset, 618 hoverfly species and more than 938 wild bee species. To resolve taxonomic difficulties caused by presence of multiple cryptic taxa, our project also includes molecular tools in order to overcome these challenges and provide specific species-level indexes (barcode). Taxonomic information and photos of all hoverfly species from the regional reference collection will be provided. These outcomes would enhance access to taxonomic data through establishment of a network of national reference collections as contribution to future monitoring of pollinators in the EU.