Preliminary investigations of the species composition of the aculeate hymenopteran community in Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve (Hymenoptera, Aculeata)

The Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve is a unique location, which is an area of posttechnogenic habitat restoration, including the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, where comprehensive surveys of insect diversity have not yet been conducted. The communities of bees, sand wasps, and crabronids represent different functional groups in ecosystems (pollinators, predators, and kleptoparasites), so their taxonomic diversity provides a more complete conception of biodiversity in general. Our research was carried out in May and August 2020– 2021. We identified 159 species from 12 families. For each insect species, information is provided on the diet, nesting, lifestyle, and conservation status of bees according to the European Red List of Bees and the Ukrainian Red Book. Most of the bee species on the European Red List of Bees belong to the category ‘Least Concern’, but also registered rare species from the category ‘Data Deficient’ - 8 species, ‘Near Threatened’ - 5 species, ‘Endangered’ - 4 species ( Colletes nasutus , Melitta melanura , Dasypoda braccata , Trachusa interrupta ), ‘Vulnerable’ - 2 species ( Colletes fodiens , Halictus leucaheneus ). There have also been some interesting finds among the wasps, e.g. Arachnospila alvarabnormis , this species of spider wasps (Pompilidae) registered for the first time in the fauna of Ukraine. Data on the taxonomic diversity of bees and wasps are given for the Reserve for the first time, and although they are preliminary, we demonstrate considerable scientific potential for studying multicomponent communities in areas recovering from man-made disasters.