About This Project

Sphecoid wasps are a group of phylogenetically similar bees. They are bioindicators of biodiversity because they play an important role in the pollination of plants and in the control of other pests which are harmful for plants. In Tunisia, their spread across a diversity of habitats and ecosystems is not well known. There are only few identified species of the two families Sphecidae and Crabronidae, and this study will be the first to create a complete catalog of species in Tunisia.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

This study will contribute to the knowledge of Spheciformes wasps in Tunisia. It has shown by many research studies the potential of wasps as bioindicators, an inventory of this group with taxonomic, ecological, and biogeographic data could be useful for monitoring biodiversity. This project will determine the number of spheciformes species in Tunisia, and identify them by name. We will describe the morphology of captured insects under microscope in order to identify them. The abundance, diversity, geographic distribution, type of nest, ecological preferences, and potential prey will be also determined. This work will have a great contribution in other sectors especially agronomy and the possible use of Spheciformes as alternative to pesticides.

What is the significance of this project?

It is known that faunistic and floristic inventories are considered a necessary foundation for making important decisions to protect biodiversity. In Tunisia, faunistic studies on Spheciformes wasps species have conducted by foreign researchers. These studies are very limited and haven't been comprehensive enough. The number of species identified is lacking when compared to other countries like Turkey. According to Erol Yıldırım, Professor at Ataturk University in Turkey, it was identified 530 species of Spheciformes wasps in Turkey. For this reason this project can be considered as the first study to determine the species of Sphecidae and Crabronidae in Tunisia. It is an original faunistic research to contribute to the determination of our biological wealth.

What are the goals of the project?

The main aim of this study is to create a complete inventory of Sphecidae and Crabronidae species in Tunisia. This will allow us determine how these wasps are distributed, what their ecological preferences are, and elaborate systematic studies on this fauna. We will also create a catalog of spheciformes in Tunisia. We will collect insects from fields biweekly from April to September of each year for 3 years. Then collected specimens will be preserved in special liquid until their using. After that, specimens will be mounted and identified to the species level using different sources of literature and reference collections from different museums of the world (Museum of Entomology Erzurum, Turkey and Museum of Natural History “Giacomo Doria” (Genoa, Italy)).