Synthesised database of wild bee and hoverfly records in Europe

Ahlam Sentil; Marija Miličić; Jordan Benrezkallah; Jelena Ačanski; Andrijana Andrić; Matthieu Aubert; Ignasi Bartomeus; Paolo Biella; Mira Boustani; Leif Bloss Carstensen; Petr Bogusch; Sander Bot; Thomas Brau; Eduardas Budrys; Lisette Cantú Salazar; Andree Cappellari; Frédéric Carion; Sílvia Castro; Simon Cavaillès; Pierfilippo Cerretti; Holger H. Dathe; Maarten De Groot; Bastien De Tandt; Jelle Devalez; Rémi Devorsine; Joan Díaz-Calafat; Aleksandra Đorđević; Ambre Dormal; Eric Dufrêne; Cyrille Dussaix; Liuba A. Fedorova Zaytseva; William Fiordaliso; Simone Flaminio; Rita Földesi; Vianney Forgeois; Serge Gadoum; Mael Garrin; Hugo Gaspar; Elena Gazzea; Costanza Geppert; Maxence Gérard; Benoît Geslin; Guillaume Ghisbain; Marc Gibernau; Ana Grković; Helge Heimburg; Arthur Herinckx; Imre Demeter; Marina Janković Milosavljević; Kobe Janssen; Max Kasparek; Justyna Kierat; David Kleijn; Michael Kuhlmann; Xavier Lair; Shawn Lemaire; Lucia Lenzi; Laura Likov; Jessica Litman; Sara Brito Lopes; João Loureiro; Jacobs Maarten; Pierre Yves Maestracci; Lorenzo Marini; Umberto Maritano; Maurizio Mei; Maud Mignot; Sonja Mudri Stojnić; Zorica Nedeljković; Esther Ockermueller; F. Javier Ortiz-Sanchez; Sébastien Patiny; Juho Paukkunen; Gerard Pennards; Adrien Perrard; Theodora Petanidou; Grigory Popov; Snežana Popov; Simon G. Potts; Alex Prokhorov; Stefan Pruner; Vladimir Radchenko; Snežana Radenković; Pierre Rasmont; Sara Reverté; Antonio Ricarte; Santos Rojo; Thomas Romig; Paolo Rosa; Carlos Ruiz; Philippe Sagot; Rémi Santerre; Jeroen Scheper; Marco Selis; Fabio Sgolastra; Viktor Shparyk; Catarina Siopa; Tea Skendžic; Jan Smit; Daniele Sommaggio; Villu Soon; Axel Ssymank; Gunilla Ståhls; Menelaos Stavrinides; Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter; Jakub Straka; Joffrey Thulier; Tamara Tot; Clément Tourbez; Jeroen van Steenis; Wouter van Steenis; Androulla Varnava; Sanja Veselić; Adi Vesnic; Sarah Vray; Paul Williams; Thomas James Wood; Dominique Zimmermann; Aleksandra Żmuda; Ante Vujić; Denis Michez; Natasha de Manincor

doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06644-2

Synthesised database of wild bee and hoverfly records in Europe

Ahlam Sentil^*, Marija Miličić, Jordan Benrezkallah, Jelena Ačanski, Andrijana Andrić, Matthieu Aubert, Ignasi Bartomeus, Paolo Biella, Mira Boustani, Leif Bloss Carstensen, Petr Bogusch, Sander Bot, Thomas Brau, Eduardas Budrys, Lisette Cantú Salazar, Andree Cappellari, Frédéric Carion, Sílvia Castro, Simon Cavaillès, Pierfilippo CerrettiHolger H. Dathe, Maarten De Groot, Bastien De Tandt, Jelle Devalez, Rémi Devorsine, Joan Díaz-Calafat, Aleksandra Đorđević, Ambre Dormal, Eric Dufrêne, Cyrille Dussaix, Liuba A. Fedorova Zaytseva, William Fiordaliso, Simone Flaminio, Rita Földesi, Vianney Forgeois, Serge Gadoum, Mael Garrin, Hugo Gaspar, Elena Gazzea, Costanza Geppert, Maxence Gérard, Benoît Geslin, Guillaume Ghisbain, Marc Gibernau, Ana Grković, Helge Heimburg, Arthur Herinckx, Imre Demeter, Marina Janković Milosavljević, Kobe Janssen, Max Kasparek, Justyna Kierat, David Kleijn, Michael Kuhlmann, Xavier Lair, Shawn Lemaire, Lucia Lenzi, Laura Likov, Jessica Litman, Sara Brito Lopes, João Loureiro, Jacobs Maarten, Pierre Yves Maestracci, Lorenzo Marini, Umberto Maritano, Maurizio Mei, Maud Mignot, Sonja Mudri Stojnić, Zorica Nedeljković, Esther Ockermueller, F. Javier Ortiz-Sanchez, Sébastien Patiny, Juho Paukkunen, Gerard Pennards, Adrien Perrard, Theodora Petanidou, Grigory Popov, Snežana Popov, Simon G. Potts, Alex Prokhorov, Stefan Pruner, Vladimir Radchenko, Snežana Radenković, Pierre Rasmont, Sara Reverté, Antonio Ricarte, Santos Rojo, Thomas Romig, Paolo Rosa, Carlos Ruiz, Philippe Sagot, Rémi Santerre, Jeroen Scheper, Marco Selis, Fabio Sgolastra, Viktor Shparyk, Catarina Siopa, Tea Skendžic, Jan Smit, Daniele Sommaggio, Villu Soon, Axel Ssymank, Gunilla Ståhls, Menelaos Stavrinides, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Jakub Straka, Joffrey Thulier, Tamara Tot, Clément Tourbez, Jeroen van Steenis, Wouter van Steenis, Androulla Varnava, Sanja Veselić, Adi Vesnic, Sarah Vray, Paul Williams, Thomas James Wood, Dominique Zimmermann, Aleksandra Żmuda, Ante Vujić, Denis Michez, Natasha de Manincor

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Wild bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), the two major groups of insect pollinators, are undergoing alarming declines worldwide, including Europe. The lack of accessible and verified spatial and temporal occurrence records currently challenges efforts to understand and mitigate this decline. Here, we compiled datasets from diverse sources, including taxonomists, national experts, public repositories, museum collections, published literature, verified open-access platforms, and aggregated datasets from previous European projects. The collected data were standardised, cleaned and validated by taxonomists and national experts. This collective effort resulted in two databases comprising more than 4.34 million and 1.04 million records for wild bees and hoverflies, respectively. The databases cover 97% of the European bee fauna (2,083 species out of 2,138 recorded in Europe) and 97% of the European hoverfly fauna (886 species out of 913 recorded in Europe). These standardised databases constitute essential resources for future assessments of status and trends, habitat associations, and other research and conservation initiatives to protect and understand wild pollinators on the European continent.

Original language	English
Article number	227
Journal	Scientific Data
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06644-2
Publication status	Published - Dec 2026

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https://edepot.wur.nl/710766Licence: CC BY-ND

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Sentil, A., Miličić, M., Benrezkallah, J., Ačanski, J., Andrić, A., Aubert, M., Bartomeus, I., Biella, P., Boustani, M., Carstensen, L. B., Bogusch, P., Bot, S., Brau, T., Budrys, E., Salazar, L. C., Cappellari, A., Carion, F., Castro, S., Cavaillès, S., ... de Manincor, N. (2026). Synthesised database of wild bee and hoverfly records in Europe. Scientific Data, 13(1), Article 227. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06644-2

@article{a8dbad33d5cd4a3598f542c9face7c35,

title = "Synthesised database of wild bee and hoverfly records in Europe",

abstract = "Wild bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), the two major groups of insect pollinators, are undergoing alarming declines worldwide, including Europe. The lack of accessible and verified spatial and temporal occurrence records currently challenges efforts to understand and mitigate this decline. Here, we compiled datasets from diverse sources, including taxonomists, national experts, public repositories, museum collections, published literature, verified open-access platforms, and aggregated datasets from previous European projects. The collected data were standardised, cleaned and validated by taxonomists and national experts. This collective effort resulted in two databases comprising more than 4.34 million and 1.04 million records for wild bees and hoverflies, respectively. The databases cover 97\% of the European bee fauna (2,083 species out of 2,138 recorded in Europe) and 97\% of the European hoverfly fauna (886 species out of 913 recorded in Europe). These standardised databases constitute essential resources for future assessments of status and trends, habitat associations, and other research and conservation initiatives to protect and understand wild pollinators on the European continent.",

author = "Ahlam Sentil and Marija Mili{\v c}i{\'c} and Jordan Benrezkallah and Jelena A{\v c}anski and Andrijana Andri{\'c} and Matthieu Aubert and Ignasi Bartomeus and Paolo Biella and Mira Boustani and Carstensen, \{Leif Bloss\} and Petr Bogusch and Sander Bot and Thomas Brau and Eduardas Budrys and Salazar, \{Lisette Cant{\'u}\} and Andree Cappellari and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Carion and S{\'i}lvia Castro and Simon Cavaill{\`e}s and Pierfilippo Cerretti and Dathe, \{Holger H.\} and \{De Groot\}, Maarten and \{De Tandt\}, Bastien and Jelle Devalez and R{\'e}mi Devorsine and Joan D{\'i}az-Calafat and Aleksandra {\D}or{\d}evi{\'c} and Ambre Dormal and Eric Dufr{\^e}ne and Cyrille Dussaix and \{Fedorova Zaytseva\}, \{Liuba A.\} and William Fiordaliso and Simone Flaminio and Rita F{\"o}ldesi and Vianney Forgeois and Serge Gadoum and Mael Garrin and Hugo Gaspar and Elena Gazzea and Costanza Geppert and Maxence G{\'e}rard and Beno{\^i}t Geslin and Guillaume Ghisbain and Marc Gibernau and Ana Grkovi{\'c} and Helge Heimburg and Arthur Herinckx and Imre Demeter and \{Jankovi{\'c} Milosavljevi{\'c}\}, Marina and Kobe Janssen and Max Kasparek and Justyna Kierat and David Kleijn and Michael Kuhlmann and Xavier Lair and Shawn Lemaire and Lucia Lenzi and Laura Likov and Jessica Litman and Lopes, \{Sara Brito\} and Jo{\~a}o Loureiro and Jacobs Maarten and Maestracci, \{Pierre Yves\} and Lorenzo Marini and Umberto Maritano and Maurizio Mei and Maud Mignot and Stojni{\'c}, \{Sonja Mudri\} and Zorica Nedeljkovi{\'c} and Esther Ockermueller and Ortiz-Sanchez, \{F. Javier\} and S{\'e}bastien Patiny and Juho Paukkunen and Gerard Pennards and Adrien Perrard and Theodora Petanidou and Grigory Popov and Sne{\v z}ana Popov and Potts, \{Simon G.\} and Alex Prokhorov and Stefan Pruner and Vladimir Radchenko and Sne{\v z}ana Radenkovi{\'c} and Pierre Rasmont and Sara Revert{\'e} and Antonio Ricarte and Santos Rojo and Thomas Romig and Paolo Rosa and Carlos Ruiz and Philippe Sagot and R{\'e}mi Santerre and Jeroen Scheper and Marco Selis and Fabio Sgolastra and Viktor Shparyk and Catarina Siopa and Tea Skend{\v z}ic and Jan Smit and Daniele Sommaggio and Villu Soon and Axel Ssymank and Gunilla St{\aa}hls and Menelaos Stavrinides and Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter and Jakub Straka and Joffrey Thulier and Tamara Tot and Cl{\'e}ment Tourbez and \{van Steenis\}, Jeroen and \{van Steenis\}, Wouter and Androulla Varnava and Sanja Veseli{\'c} and Adi Vesnic and Sarah Vray and Paul Williams and Wood, \{Thomas James\} and Dominique Zimmermann and Aleksandra {\.Z}muda and Ante Vuji{\'c} and Denis Michez and \{de Manincor\}, Natasha",

year = "2026",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s41597-026-06644-2",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

journal = "Scientific Data",

issn = "2052-4463",

publisher = "Nature",

number = "1",

}

Sentil, A, Miličić, M, Benrezkallah, J, Ačanski, J, Andrić, A, Aubert, M, Bartomeus, I, Biella, P, Boustani, M, Carstensen, LB, Bogusch, P, Bot, S, Brau, T, Budrys, E, Salazar, LC, Cappellari, A, Carion, F, Castro, S, Cavaillès, S, Cerretti, P, Dathe, HH, De Groot, M, De Tandt, B, Devalez, J, Devorsine, R, Díaz-Calafat, J, Đorđević, A, Dormal, A, Dufrêne, E, Dussaix, C, Fedorova Zaytseva, LA, Fiordaliso, W, Flaminio, S, Földesi, R, Forgeois, V, Gadoum, S, Garrin, M, Gaspar, H, Gazzea, E, Geppert, C, Gérard, M, Geslin, B, Ghisbain, G, Gibernau, M, Grković, A, Heimburg, H, Herinckx, A, Demeter, I, Janković Milosavljević, M, Janssen, K, Kasparek, M, Kierat, J, Kleijn, D, Kuhlmann, M, Lair, X, Lemaire, S, Lenzi, L, Likov, L, Litman, J, Lopes, SB, Loureiro, J, Maarten, J, Maestracci, PY, Marini, L, Maritano, U, Mei, M, Mignot, M, Stojnić, SM, Nedeljković, Z, Ockermueller, E, Ortiz-Sanchez, FJ, Patiny, S, Paukkunen, J, Pennards, G, Perrard, A, Petanidou, T, Popov, G, Popov, S, Potts, SG, Prokhorov, A, Pruner, S, Radchenko, V, Radenković, S, Rasmont, P, Reverté, S, Ricarte, A, Rojo, S, Romig, T, Rosa, P, Ruiz, C, Sagot, P, Santerre, R, Scheper, J, Selis, M, Sgolastra, F, Shparyk, V, Siopa, C, Skendžic, T, Smit, J, Sommaggio, D, Soon, V, Ssymank, A, Ståhls, G, Stavrinides, M, Steffan-Dewenter, I, Straka, J, Thulier, J, Tot, T, Tourbez, C, van Steenis, J, van Steenis, W, Varnava, A, Veselić, S, Vesnic, A, Vray, S, Williams, P, Wood, TJ, Zimmermann, D, Żmuda, A, Vujić, A, Michez, D & de Manincor, N 2026, 'Synthesised database of wild bee and hoverfly records in Europe', Scientific Data, vol. 13, no. 1, 227. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06644-2

TY - JOUR

T1 - Synthesised database of wild bee and hoverfly records in Europe

AU - Sentil, Ahlam

AU - Miličić, Marija

AU - Benrezkallah, Jordan

AU - Ačanski, Jelena

AU - Andrić, Andrijana

AU - Aubert, Matthieu

AU - Bartomeus, Ignasi

AU - Biella, Paolo

AU - Boustani, Mira

AU - Carstensen, Leif Bloss

AU - Bogusch, Petr

AU - Bot, Sander

AU - Brau, Thomas

AU - Budrys, Eduardas

AU - Salazar, Lisette Cantú

AU - Cappellari, Andree

AU - Carion, Frédéric

AU - Castro, Sílvia

AU - Cavaillès, Simon

AU - Cerretti, Pierfilippo

AU - Dathe, Holger H.

AU - De Groot, Maarten

AU - De Tandt, Bastien

AU - Devalez, Jelle

AU - Devorsine, Rémi

AU - Díaz-Calafat, Joan

AU - Đorđević, Aleksandra

AU - Dormal, Ambre

AU - Dufrêne, Eric

AU - Dussaix, Cyrille

AU - Fedorova Zaytseva, Liuba A.

AU - Fiordaliso, William

AU - Flaminio, Simone

AU - Földesi, Rita

AU - Forgeois, Vianney

AU - Gadoum, Serge

AU - Garrin, Mael

AU - Gaspar, Hugo

AU - Gazzea, Elena

AU - Geppert, Costanza

AU - Gérard, Maxence

AU - Geslin, Benoît

AU - Ghisbain, Guillaume

AU - Gibernau, Marc

AU - Grković, Ana

AU - Heimburg, Helge

AU - Herinckx, Arthur

AU - Demeter, Imre

AU - Janković Milosavljević, Marina

AU - Janssen, Kobe

AU - Kasparek, Max

AU - Kierat, Justyna

AU - Kleijn, David

AU - Kuhlmann, Michael

AU - Lair, Xavier

AU - Lemaire, Shawn

AU - Lenzi, Lucia

AU - Likov, Laura

AU - Litman, Jessica

AU - Lopes, Sara Brito

AU - Loureiro, João

AU - Maarten, Jacobs

AU - Maestracci, Pierre Yves

AU - Marini, Lorenzo

AU - Maritano, Umberto

AU - Mei, Maurizio

AU - Mignot, Maud

AU - Stojnić, Sonja Mudri

AU - Nedeljković, Zorica

AU - Ockermueller, Esther

AU - Ortiz-Sanchez, F. Javier

AU - Patiny, Sébastien

AU - Paukkunen, Juho

AU - Pennards, Gerard

AU - Perrard, Adrien

AU - Petanidou, Theodora

AU - Popov, Grigory

AU - Popov, Snežana

AU - Potts, Simon G.

AU - Prokhorov, Alex

AU - Pruner, Stefan

AU - Radchenko, Vladimir

AU - Radenković, Snežana

AU - Rasmont, Pierre

AU - Reverté, Sara

AU - Ricarte, Antonio

AU - Rojo, Santos

AU - Romig, Thomas

AU - Rosa, Paolo

AU - Ruiz, Carlos

AU - Sagot, Philippe

AU - Santerre, Rémi

AU - Scheper, Jeroen

AU - Selis, Marco

AU - Sgolastra, Fabio

AU - Shparyk, Viktor

AU - Siopa, Catarina

AU - Skendžic, Tea

AU - Smit, Jan

AU - Sommaggio, Daniele

AU - Soon, Villu

AU - Ssymank, Axel

AU - Ståhls, Gunilla

AU - Stavrinides, Menelaos

AU - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf

AU - Straka, Jakub

AU - Thulier, Joffrey

AU - Tot, Tamara

AU - Tourbez, Clément

AU - van Steenis, Jeroen

AU - van Steenis, Wouter

AU - Varnava, Androulla

AU - Veselić, Sanja

AU - Vesnic, Adi

AU - Vray, Sarah

AU - Williams, Paul

AU - Wood, Thomas James

AU - Zimmermann, Dominique

AU - Żmuda, Aleksandra

AU - Vujić, Ante

AU - Michez, Denis

AU - de Manincor, Natasha

PY - 2026/12

Y1 - 2026/12

N2 - Wild bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), the two major groups of insect pollinators, are undergoing alarming declines worldwide, including Europe. The lack of accessible and verified spatial and temporal occurrence records currently challenges efforts to understand and mitigate this decline. Here, we compiled datasets from diverse sources, including taxonomists, national experts, public repositories, museum collections, published literature, verified open-access platforms, and aggregated datasets from previous European projects. The collected data were standardised, cleaned and validated by taxonomists and national experts. This collective effort resulted in two databases comprising more than 4.34 million and 1.04 million records for wild bees and hoverflies, respectively. The databases cover 97% of the European bee fauna (2,083 species out of 2,138 recorded in Europe) and 97% of the European hoverfly fauna (886 species out of 913 recorded in Europe). These standardised databases constitute essential resources for future assessments of status and trends, habitat associations, and other research and conservation initiatives to protect and understand wild pollinators on the European continent.

AB - Wild bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), the two major groups of insect pollinators, are undergoing alarming declines worldwide, including Europe. The lack of accessible and verified spatial and temporal occurrence records currently challenges efforts to understand and mitigate this decline. Here, we compiled datasets from diverse sources, including taxonomists, national experts, public repositories, museum collections, published literature, verified open-access platforms, and aggregated datasets from previous European projects. The collected data were standardised, cleaned and validated by taxonomists and national experts. This collective effort resulted in two databases comprising more than 4.34 million and 1.04 million records for wild bees and hoverflies, respectively. The databases cover 97% of the European bee fauna (2,083 species out of 2,138 recorded in Europe) and 97% of the European hoverfly fauna (886 species out of 913 recorded in Europe). These standardised databases constitute essential resources for future assessments of status and trends, habitat associations, and other research and conservation initiatives to protect and understand wild pollinators on the European continent.

U2 - 10.1038/s41597-026-06644-2

DO - 10.1038/s41597-026-06644-2

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105029934314

SN - 2052-4463

VL - 13

JO - Scientific Data

JF - Scientific Data

IS - 1

M1 - 227

ER -

Synthesised database of wild bee and hoverfly records in Europe

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