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Two new species of aulacid wasps, Pristaulacus iuliae Turrisi & Nobile sp. nov. from South India (Karnataka) and Pristaulacus ninae sp. nov. from Peninsular Malaysia (Pahang), are described, figured and compared with most related species. Based on the present addition, the Indomalayan area currently includes 27 species of Pristaulacus Kieffer out of 61 known from the whole Oriental Region, which is however a largely underestimated number. An identification key to species and an updated checklist of Pristaulacus occurring in the Indomalayan area are provided.

The Nearctic Sceliphron caementarium (Drury, 1773) is widely distributed in the Western Palearctic and is spreading to new territories. Despite the large quantities of data on citizen-science platforms, these records have been mostly overlooked. In this publication, the first records of S. caementarium from six Eastern European and Balkan countries (Albania, Greece, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, and Slovakia) are presented. Data derived from online citizen-science observations and museum specimens supplement our knowledge of this species’ range. The distribution of this species in Europe and possible ecological implications are discussed.

The present study analyses the ecological connectivity of four bee communities in fragmented areas in the foothills of Volcano Etna (Catania province, Sicily, Italy). The surveys were carried out in four sites under different land management regimes from 2007 to 2010. The selected areas include two different urban parks in the city of Catania (Parco Gioeni and Parco degli Ulivi), a Nature Reserve (Complesso Immacolatelle e Micio Conti, San Gregorio di Catania), and an agroecosystem (a citrus orchard, Aci Catena). The well-known bee community of a suburban park (Timpa di Leucatia, north of Catania) was considered as a control site. The bee communities include 163 species, belonging to the families Colletidae (10 species), Andrenidae (27 spp.), Halictidae (31 spp.), Melittidae (1 sp.), Megachilidae (49 spp.), and Apidae (45 spp.). Comparative zoocenotic analyses have been carried out, by calculating the main diversity indices and different methods of multivariate analysis. The ecological connectivity was evaluated through cartographic instruments by mapping the level of biopermeability of the foothills of Etna, to highlight how the level of naturality and ecological corridors could affect bee diversity. Furthermore, the degree of environmental fragmentation was evaluated through the biogeographic model of islands under the linear regression species-area, considering the examined sites as “ecological islands”. The data obtained highlight that reliable conservation strategies should consider firstly the maintenance of adequate ecological connectivity among environmental patches as well a high degree of local biodiversity, especially a high diversity of flowering plants.

Aulacidae are parasitoids of wood-boring larvae of Hymenoptera and Coleoptera, known in all zoogeographic regions of the World, except Antarctic. Two aulacids, Pristaulacus compressus (Spinola, 1808) and the rare Pristaulacus mourguesi Maneval, 1935, have been recently collected from Iran, the latter being a new record. Based on available data, the Iranian aulacid fauna includes five species within a single genus, Pristaulacus Kieffer 1900. A brief taxonomic treatment, as well as morphometric data and an illustrated key to species, are provided.

The presence of Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768) in Elba Island (Tuscany, Italy), previously known by only one ancient and doubtful record, is confirmed. Two specimens road killed, were collected in the north-east of the island. The new distributional data is briefly commented in the context of the paleogeographic and historical-environmental background.