Pollinator biodiversity research Bee taxonomy is essential for pollination biology, pollination
management and biodiversity conservation. Because pollination is often an
intricate interaction between the plant and the pollinator, it is essential to
correctly identify the organisms involved. There are 2755 bee species in
sub-Saharan Africa, about a third of which occur in South Africa. Pollination mostly precedes fruit and seed production and many
plants, including many crops, are insect pollinated. Bees are the most important
group of pollinators. Around the World bee abundance and diversity is diminishing.
This affects agriculture and biodiversity conservation and we cannot understand
and rectify the problem if we don’t know the organisms involved. |
Almost all bees are pollinators, but only a few species make
honey. The honey makers are the honey bee (one species) and the mocca or mopani
bees (10 species), and even these honey producers are very important
pollinators. Pollination precedes fruit and seed production and therefore it is
an ecosystem service, the cost of which is the maintenance of pollinator healthy
ecosystems.
Pollination is a difficult subject because different crops and
wild plants need different pollinators. The pollinators may differ in different
areas and periods of the season. Further, most plants have a complex of
pollinators, and similarly many pollinators visit several plant species. Both
pollinator and plant biodiversity together maintain pollinator healthy
ecosystems. This complex situation is, in essence, biodiversity a biodiversity
is in itself an ecosystem service.
Research activities
- Systematic revisions of Afrotropical bees
- Bee identification services
- Production of electronic bee identification tools
- Production of a database of Afrotropical bees
- Development of the African Pollinator Initiative
- Recording bee host plants
- Bee biogeography
- Behaviour, ecology and pollination biology of bees
National and International Affiliation
- IPI (International Pollinator Initiative)
- BioNET-International
- SAFRINET, SADC (Southern African
Development Community) network of BioNET
- EAFRINET, the East African network of BioNET, and its large network of
collaborating organisations)
- FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation)
- ICIPE (International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology)
- University of Natal
- University of Pretoria
- University of Cape Town
- Rhodes University, Grahamstown
- University of Stellenbosch
- Transvaal Museum, Pretoria
- South African Museum, Cape Town
- Albany Museum, Grahamstown
The Aculeate Hymenoptera collections
The bee collection of the S.A. National Collection of Insects
comprises about 50 000 bee specimens. Material belonging to genera that have
been revised are identified. Currently the Megachilidae are being studied.
The aculeate wasp collection comprises about 40 000 specimens.
They have not been databased. Specimens in genera that have been revised are
mostly identified.
Material is made available to researchers interested in
studying Afrotropical bees and aculeate wasps.
Selected publications
EARDLEY, C.D. & V.B. WHITEHEAD. 2003. The
Afrotropical Fideliidea. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society
76(2): 250-276
EARDLEY, C.D. 2004. Afrotropical
Ctenoplectrini (Hymenoptera: Apidae). African Plant Protection 9(1):
1-18
EARDLEY, C.D. 2004. Afrotropical Stingless
Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). African Plant Protection 10(2): 63-96
DAVIES, G.B.P., EARDLEY, C.D. & BROTHERS, D.J.
2005. Eight new species of Scrapter (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Colletidae)
with descriptions of S. albifumus and S. amplispinatus females
and a major range extension of the genus. African Invertebrates 46:
141-179
EARDLEY, C.D. 2005. Pollinator
biodiversity conservation in Africa stimulates interest in bee taxonomy.
[In] CBD Technical Series No. 21. Secretariat of the Convention on
Biological Diversity, p. 120-121
EARDLEY, C.D. 2006. Afrotropical Bees now:
what next? [In] Kevan, Peter G. & Vera L. Imperatriz-Fonseca [Eds.]
Pollinating Bees. The Conservation Link Between Agriculture and Nature
(2nd Ed.) Ministry of Environment, Brazil : 105-114
EARDLEY, C.D. & URBAN R.P. 2006. Taxonomic
name changes in Afrotropical bees (Hymenoptera:Apoidae). African
Entomology 14(1): 161-174
EARDLEY, C.D. 2006. Southern and East African
Melitta Kirby (Apoidea: Melittidae). African Entomology 14(2):
293-300
EARDLEY, C., ROTH, D., CLARKE, J., BUCHMANN, S., AND
GEMMILL, B. [Eds] 2006. Pollinators and Pollination: A resource
book for policy and practice. API. Pretoria. 77pp
EARDLEY, C.D., 2006. The southern Africa
species of Andrena Fabricius (Apoidea: Andrenidae). African Plant
Protection 12: 51-57
EARDLEY, C.D., 2007. Three new species of
Sphecodopsis Bischoff (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Nomadinae). African
Entomology 15:193-196
CORTOPASSI-LAURINO, M., Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L.,
Roubik, D.W., Dollin, A., Heard, T., Aguilar, I., Venturieri, G.C., Eardley, C.
and Nogueira-Neto, P. 2006. Global meliponiculture: challenges and
opportunities. Apidologie 37: 275-292
EARDLEY, C.D. and DALY H.V. 2007. Bees of the
genus Ceratina Latreille in southern Africa (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).
Entomofauna 13: 1-96
MICHEZ, D., EARDLEY, C.D., KUHLMANN, M. and PATINY, S.
2007. Revision of the bee genus Capicola (Hymenoptera: Apoidea:
Melittidae) distributed in the Southwest of Africa. European Journal of
Entomology 104: 311-340
GEMMILL-HERREN, B., EARDLEY, C., MBURU, J., KINUTHIA,
W. AND MARTINS, D. 2007. Chapter 9. Pollinators [In] Scherr,
Sara J. and McNeely, Jeffrey.A. [Eds.] 2007. Farming with Nature.
The Science and Practice of Ecoagriculture. Island Press, Washington,
445pp
MICHEZ, D. and EARDLEY, C.D. 2008. Monographic
revision of the bee genus Melitta Kirby 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Melittidae).
Annals of the Entomological Society of France 43(4): 379-440
MISSA, O., BASSET, Y., ALONSO, A., MILLER, S.E.,
CURLETTI, G., DE MEYER, M., EARDLEY, C., MANSELL, M.W., WAGNER, T.
2008. Monitoring arthropods in a tropical landscape: relative effects
of sampling methods and habitat types on trap catches. Journal of Insect
Conservation DOI 10.1007/s10841-0 07-9130-5. pp.1-16
DANFORTH, B.N., C. EARDLEYC, L. PACKER, K.WALKER, A
PAULY, AND F.J. RANDRIANANMBININTSOA. 2008. Phylogeny of
Halictidae with an emphasis on endemic African Halictinae.
Apidologie 39: 86-101.
BASSET, Y., O. MISSA, A. ALONSO, S.E., MILLER, G.
CURLETTI, M. DE MEYER, C. EARDLEY, M.W. MANSELL, V. NOVOTNY AND T. WAGNER
2008. Faunal turnover of arthropod assemblages along a wide gradient of
disturbances in Gabon. African Entomology 16(1): 47-59.
WHITEHEAD, V.B., K. STEINER AND C. EARDLEY.
2008. Oil collecting bees mostly of the summer rainfall area of
southern Africa (Melittidae, Rediviva Friese). Journal of the Kansas
Entomological Society 81: 122-141.
BASSET, Y., O. MISSA, A. ALONSO, S.E., MILLER, G.
CURLETTI, M. DE MEYER, C. EARDLEY, O.T. Lewis, M.W. MANSELL, V. NOVOTNY AND T.
WAGNER 2008. Changes in arthropod assemblages along a wide gradient of
disturbances in Gabon. Conservation Biology 10: 1552-1563.
EARDLEY, CD, M. GIKUNGU AND M. SCHWARZ. 2009.
Bee Conservation in Sub_Saharan Africa and Madagascar: diversity, status and
threats. Apidology 40(3): 355-366.
EARDLEY, C. 2009. A revision of the Southern
African species of Meliturgula Friese (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae:
Panurginae). Zootaxa 2261: 39-51.
EARDLEY, C. 2009. First record of the tribe
Biastini from the Afrotropical Region (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Zootaxa
2264: 65-68.
SUNG, I-H., A. DUBITZKY, C. EARDLEY AND S. YAMANE.
2009. Description and biological notes of Ctenoplectra bees
from Southeast Asia and Taiwan (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Ctenoplectrini)
with a new species from North Borneo. Entomological Science 12:
324-340.
EARDLEY, C,. F. KOCH AND A. WOODS. 2009.
Polistes dominulus (Christ, 1791) (Hymenoptera: Polistinae: Vespidae) newly
recorded from South Africa. African Entomology 17(2): 226-227.
PACKER, L., C.S. SHEFFIELD, J. GIBBS, N. DE SILVA, L.R.
BEST, J. ASCHER, R. AYALA, D. MARTINS, S.P.M. ROBERTS, O. TADAUCHI, M. KUHLMANN,
P.H. WILLIAMS, C. EARDLEY, S. DROEGE, T.V. LEVCHENKO. 2009. The
Campaign to Barcode the Bees of the World: Progress, Problems, Prognosis.
Pp.178-180 In: Yurrita, C.L. (Ed.) Memorias: VI Congreso Mesoamericano Sobre
Abejas Nativas. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala – Centro de Estudios
Conservacionistas. 368pp.
EARDLEY, C.D. AND R. URBAN. 2010. Catalogue of
Afrotropical Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes). Zootaxa
2455:1-548.
EARDLEY, C., M. KUHLMANN, A. PAULY. 2010A. The
Bee Genera and Subgenera of sub-Saharan Africa. ABC Taxa 7: 1-138.
EARDLEY, C., M. KUHLMANN AND A. PAULY. 2010B.
Les genres et sous-genres d’abeilles de l’Afrique subsaharienne. ABC
Taxa 9: 1-143.
MICHEZ, D., C.D. EARDLEY, K. TIMMERMANN AND B.N.
DANFORTH. 2010. Unexpected Polylecty in the Bee Genus
Meganomia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Melittidae). Journal of the Kansas
Entomological Society 83(3): 221-230.
MICHEZ, D., C.D. EARDLEY, M. KUHLMANN, K. TIMMERMANN
AND S. PATINY. 2010. The bee genera Haplomelitta and
Samba (Hymenoptera: Anthophila: Melittidae): phylogeny, biogeography and
host plants. Invertebrate Systematics 24: 327-347.
Contributing author:
Plan of Action of the African Pollinator Initiative,
2003. African Pollinator Initiative, Nairobi. pp.36
DIAZ, S., D. Tilman and J. Fargione 2005.
Biodiversity Regulation of Ecosystem Services. [In] Ecosystem
Services and Human Well-Being. R. Hassan, R. Scoles and N. Ash.
(editors) Island Press, Washington. Chapter 11, 917pp
IMPERATRIZ-FONSECA, V.L., A.M. SARAIVA, D. DEJONG
2006. Bees as pollinators in Brazil, assessing the status and
suggesting best practices. Conservation International, Brazil. 11pp.