Taiwan bees- a bilingual open source checklist and digitizationof Taiwan’s bee fauna

Programme:BIFA
Project ID: BIFA6_033
Project lead organization:Taiwan Forestry Research InstituteProject implementation period:1/9/2021 - 28/2/2023
Report approved: 15/5/2023

Narrative Final report
Executive Summary
Implementations and achievements
We accomplished a majority of our four goals: 1) around half of all known species were photographed,as were nearly 80% of all specimens in the Taiwan insect collections, 2) we digitized almost all bees
from 6 of the 7 collections, including giving each a unique identification code, 3) around 30 species ofthe bees in Taiwan were barcoded, and 4) collecting occurred in novel areas such as Kinmen andGreen Island, based on our regional sampling gaps. We have completed all the data collection for the
first species level bilingual checklist. Our team also hosted a workshop for members of the public
interested in learning how to identify Taiwan bees to the genus level, for which a key in Chinese wasmade.
Key lessons and best practices
Some key lessons that came from the grant are that we could have applied for more funding toaccomplish our desired results. This work will best be used as a foundation, or backbone, for whatcomes next in terms of bee conservation and systematics priority. We hope that our work will make itpossible for students and researchers in Taiwan to confidently pursue non-Apis bee studies.
Unexpected challenges
These included the ongoing global pandemic, as cases rose in Taiwan during our grant period in
2021, making it challenging for research both within the country and visitation by external colleagues toprogress. Disbursement of funds through our institutions was also a challenge.
Post-project activities
We are still working on synthesizing our findings for publication into natural history notes, species
descriptions, and the complete bilingual checklist. Imaging and molecular work are also ongoing, but
we made significant progress. The goal is to write and submit the publications during this year, 2023.

Progress against milestones
Has your project completed all planned activities?: Yes

Has your project produced all deliverables?: Yes

Report on Activities
Activity implementation summary
1-1. Review the activities planned in your project proposal and describe your achievements1). Checklist and collection visits- This was outlined above, but as mentioned we were able to confirm

180 bee species with voucher specimens as being present in Taiwan. These vouchers can be found in
6 of the 7 national collections (National Taiwan University, the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute,Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, the National Museum of Natural Sciences, National Chiayi
University, and National Chung Hsing University), as the 7th (Academia Sinica) did not have bees as
we had originally thought. We found that Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute has the mostspecimens, with nearly 8000 spanning from the Japanese colonial period until the 1980s.
2). Analyze material- This is the last progressed part of our project as data collection took the longest
and all members of the team have also been busy with other work. The most advanced staged
analyses are that of the CO1 barcoding, counts, and the creation of a taxonomic key. However, weplan to continue doing analyses for the collection records, which may even include body size data overtime, and a more quantitative dive into the checklist information, such as use of geographic data.
3). Barcoding and collecting- Both of these aspects have had significant progress through the work ofgrant members at National Chiayi University and Taiwan Forestry Research Institute. Some of thecollecting efforts have yet to be readied for digitization as label data is still being transcribed, and not
all barcodes have been posted publicly, as they are awaiting publication.
4).Data completion and workshop- The workshop was a success with twenty-one attendees frominstitutes, museums, and the public. Melissa Liu (from the Asia support and TaiBIFT) also very kindlyjoined in and informed the attendees on how to upload data into the GBIF portal, as Taiwan has a verystrong and active participation node. We have completed collection of data at least for the initial
species paper and around 3 more subsequent publications.
1-2. Achievements Assigning a name with traditional Chinese writing, in which Taiwan is among thelast countries and cultures to use, to each bee species known in the region. We are really excitedabout the translation aspect of our work as it is something that is not usually taken into consideration
for checklists, and will make our study more relevant to those in the country.
2. New activities implemented
Include attending the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) stand alone meeting/ conference in
Mexico City and presenting a poster on our work. Additionally, our colleague Wen-Chi Yeh created ageneric level key in both English and Chinese which he presented to workshop attendees.
3. Delayed activities
Include completion of the data cleaning and analysis and creation of the bilingual website for a public
facing side of the checklist, both of these have an anticipated finish in 2023. Causes for delay include
limited personal working on grant activities and the ongoing global pandemic. All goals mentioned in
the grant will be done post-grant period if not done yet, as outlined above.

Completed activities

Activity name: Checklist
Description: Completed collection of data for checklist and have confirmed ~180 species in Taiwan
using vouchers
Start Date - End Date: 1/12/2022 - 28/2/2023
Verification Sources: Taiwanbeelist_Chinesenames (attached)

Activity name: DNA barcoding
Description: DNA barcoding of bees both native and endemic to Taiwan- we did not complete
obtaining a CO1 for every specimen but made significant progress
Start Date - End Date: 1/9/2022 - 28/2/2023
Verification Sources: Barcoding document attached

Activity name: Digitization
Description: 1232 specimens from the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) have been digitizedand converted to DarwinCore standard, then uploaded to GBIF. We also have nearly 10,000 dorsal
view photos of bees in other insect collections from around Taiwan that have not yet been uploaded toGBIF.
Start Date - End Date: 1/9/2022 - 28/2/2023
Verification Sources: TFRI document attached

Activity name: workshop
Description: Digitization and identification workshop of Taiwan Bees for local museum, institute andsome public amateurs
Start Date - End Date: 6/9/2022 - 6/9/2022
Verification Sources: documents uploaded

Report on Deliverables
Production of Deliverables - Summary1). New records and species- We have yet to quantify the amount of new records and species, as somewere in the collections but just not published on. So far though we have less than 10 new species andover 20 new records. Recently, a review of the Lasioglossum (Leuchalictus) (Hymenoptera, Apoidea,Halictidae) in Taiwan cooperation with Japanese colleague Dr. Ryuki Murao. Three are three species
are recognised, including a new species: Lasioglossum subinoum sp. nov. will be publishing.
2). DNA barcodes- Recent collections of Taiwanese bee species have been sequenced for COI
barcodes using LCO1490/HCO2198. Nearly 70 species of barcodes have been sequenced using CO1
gene region, however, 30 species are yet published publicly as we are awaiting to complete an
associated paper to do so.
3). Bilingual and open source checklist- The bilingual aspect has been completed thanks to the effortsof Wen-Chi Yeh as attached namelist file. The open source aspect has been started but is not yet
ready for public view, this is via Wix, and will potentially be converted to an html format.
4). Workshop- As highlighted above, the workshop was held during summer 2022 and a success. We
held it in Taiwan and had folks from the public to academic spheres, which is exactly the level ofimpact we are interested in creating and maintaining with this work.
5). Digitization- All bees in the Taiwan insect collections that were visited were digitized, this results inover 10000 specimens. This data is not yet cleaned for submission to GBIF in DarwinCore format.
Some collections from the South not originally considered would be interesting for future inclusion into
the dataset and digitization efforts. As written above, all the digitized bees were photographed in dorsal
view with a scale bar and label data included. The exceptions to this were collections where visitation
was time limited or there were too many duplicates of a common species, for these a photo was takenof the whole drawer. Stacked images were taken for some specimens, especially types and those fromTaiwan Forestry Research Institute, due to it being the newest collection and with spreading that had
photography in mind.
6). Conference presentation- Conferences presented at were Entomological Society of America
meeting in Vancouver British Columbia Canada, the 2nd year symposium at the American Museum ofNatural History in New York City New York in the United States of America, the Society of Systematic
Biologists in Mexico City Mexico, the Taiwan Entomological Society meeting and National Chung
Hsing University Entomology seminar both in Taichung Taiwan.
New deliverables- As mentioned above the new deliverables are primarily photos of most digitized
specimens and the generic level key.
Delay on deliverables are due to time and personal constraints as well as the pandemic.
Production of deliverables

Title: Checklist
Type: Data Papers
Description: All species recorded as being present in Taiwan are finalized as per current information
we have access to, such as voucher specimens present in the collections. Additionally, all of thosearound 180 species have been given a name in traditional Chinese, the writing system used in Taiwan.
Sources of verification: Around 180 species have been given a name in traditional Chinese, thewriting system used in Taiwan. The checklist will also be available on a website and throughpublication. The plan is to have this all published by the end of 2023.

Title: Digitization specimens records
Type: Dataset
Status update: The digitization has been completed for all intended collections with bees in Taiwan.
The photos and data will be cleaned and ready for uploading by summer 2023.
Dataset scope: Bee collection of Taiwan}
Expected number of records: 4000
Data holder: Taiwan Forestry Research Institute
Data host institution: Taiwan Forestry Research InstituteSampling method:% complete: 40
DOI:

Expected date of publication: 2023-11-30

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on project implementation
In order for the non-Taiwanese collaborator to enter the country during the anticipated timeline ofsummer 2022, they had to apply for an alternate visa which made the timeline to visit collections anddigitize specimens shorter than originally planned for. In addition, Taiwanese collaborators have someshutdowns occurring in 2021 due to a spike in COVID cases. All of this equates to a slight shift in theproject being publication ready, however, data collection was still a success.

EventsWorkshop on bee ID and use of GBIF
Dates: 2022-08-16 - 2022-08-16
Organizing institution: Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Chiayi University
Country: Taiwan
Number of participants: 22
Comments: We had an excellent turnout from both researchers, enthusiasts, and the public. In total
there were 5 lectures, an introduction from Dr. Lu, one on a newly developed generic level key on
Taiwan bees (in Chinese) from Wen-Chi Yeh, one on the work of Dr. Sung, one on GBIF data
mobilization with Melissa Liu, and one on the checklist from Rin.
Website or sources of verification: attached workshop document and photo

Communications and visibility
Forest Arthropod Collection of Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, would help to continuecommunicated with the project stakeholders for further broader GBIF community.

Monitoring and evaluation
Final Evaluation1). We produced all of our intended deliverables, it is only the timeline that has shifted.
2) Strengths of the project were our collaborations and ability to accomplish tasks despite time
constraints. Weaknesses were challenges related to disbursement of the funds and a large list ofambitions despite limited personnel and time.
3). We are very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this grant, as with it we were able toaccomplish important milestones and make discoveries that will be critical for bee studies in the nation
moving forward.
4). No changes have been made for project proposal, but all data has yet to be posted soon.
5). We are grateful to have had much support in answering questions and helping with posting of datafrom BIFA Coordination Team, and Melissa Liu in particular, and many folks on the GBIF team. The
workshop held virtually on data mobilization was also very informative.
6). Continue with digitization efforts and create a protocol to standardize this method for any new bees
that enter the Taiwan bee collections.
Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Digitization efforts are a manpower in this project, how can be work in more efficient way, and canapply to other taxa too should be a good lesson to learn.
Post Project Activity(ies)
We will continue to reach our aims of the project,

Sustainability plans

All the partners would continue collaborative work on the bees of Taiwan, and continue update theirdata available to the GBIF.

GBIF leads the Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (BIFA), a programme funded by the Ministryof the Environment, Government of Japan. The programme provides supplementary support foractivities addressing the needs of regional researchers and policymakers through mobilization anduse of biodiversity data.