Insect floral visitors of thermo-Mediterranean shrubland maquis (Ajaccio, Corsica, France).

BACKGROUND

The Mediterranean Region represents a biodiversity hotspot with a high rate of endemism. In its western part, Corsica Island is notable in terms of biodiversity due to its large surface and its large range of habitats from seaside to alpine biotopes. Amongst diverse groups, insects, notably the main orders of pollinators composed of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera, represent a good part of the insular richness.

NEW INFORMATION

Our sampling effort focused on the insects from these four orders visiting flowers in a characteristic thermo-Mediterranean vegetation. Our database is an insight into the Corsican floral visitor biodiversity from three sites separated by a few kilometres in the region of Ajaccio during 13 months over two successive years. In total, 4012 specimens were sampled and 252 species or morpho-species identified from 133 genera and 47 families. Beetles were by far the most abundant order representing about 54% of the sampled specimens. The most diverse order was the Hymenoptera representing 39% of the species. Our continuous survey showed that these orders are temporally dynamic both between years and between seasons in terms of abundance and diversity.