LAUSR

Abstract Background Here we present the results from a two-year bee survey conducted on 18 managed emergent wetlands in the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas, USA. Sample methods included pan traps, sweep netting and blue-vane traps. We document 83 bee species and morphospecies in 5 families and 31 genera, of which 37 species represent first published state records for Arkansas. The majority of species were opportunistic wetland species; only a small number were wetland-dependent species or species largely restricted to alluvial plains. New information We present new distributional records for bee species not previously recorded in managed emergent wetlands and report specimens of thirty-seven species for which no published Arkansas records exist, expanding the known ranges of Ceratina cockerelli, Diadasia enavata, Lasioglossum creberrimum, Svastra cressonii and Dieunomia triangulifera. We also distinguish opportunistic wetland bee species from wetland-dependent and alluvial plain-restricted species.