Bees from the Vanuatu Archipelago (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Apoidea)

Bees from the Vanuatu Archipelago (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Eleven species of Apoidea have been collected in the north-west of the Santo island (Vanuatu) in the Penaoru region, during the SANTO 2006 expedition, among which two at least are new to science: Lasioglosum (Chilalictus) vanuatu n. sp. and Austronomia sp. The moist lowland forest, between 600m and 900 m, showed the richest bee diversity. The whole bee fauna known from Vanuatu now includes about 20 species, of which seven are endemics and seven are also recorded from mother Pacific islands. In addition to Apis mellifera introduced by beekeepers, several other species were probably introduced through maritime trade.