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The paper analysed bees by-catch collected in 259 bark beetle slit traps, from eleven localities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sampling was carried out in spruce and fir forests in 2020 and 2021. As a by-catch from bark beetle slit traps 84 bee individuals from four families and 13 genera were collected. In the bark beetle slit traps sample, out of 29 bee taxa, 22 species were identified at the species level and eight specimens were left at the genus/subgenus level. The most dominant genera were Megachile with 34 specimens and Osmia represented by 20 specimens in the total sample. The research identified 14 bee species new to the fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The bee species collected in the bark beetle slit-traps were dominated by nesters in cavities, above the ground-nesting bees.

As part of the research, the population of the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle in different types of forests in five protected areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina was analyzed. The study focused on the protected areas of Sarajevo Canton, specifically the secondary forests of fir and spruce, as well as the mixed forests of beech and fir (containing spruce). Pheromone traps were used as the research sample, and they were placed within PA Bijambara, PA Trebević, and PA Skakavac. The objective was to investigate the influence of forest type and climatological factors on the number of captured Ips typographus bark beetles from 2018 to 2021. The average number of captured I. typographus bark beetles during that period ranged from 491.39 to 901.68 individuals in secondary fir and spruce forests, and from 201.88 to 701.54 individuals in beech and fir forests (including spruce).

Balkan Peninsula is considered to be a hotspot of beetle biodiversity. Registering occurrence of saproxylic beetles is an important first step for expanding the general knowledge about saproxylic beetles as ecologically important insect species. Cossonus parallelepipedus is a European saproxylic species distributed from Iberian Peninsula in the west to Russia in the east, and from the Mediterranean in the south to Fennoscandia in the north. The first, and until now the only find of this species for the Balkan Peninsula is from Croatia. We report the first find of C. parallelepipedus in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). In April 2020, larvae, pupae and imagoes were collected, in the central part of BiH, north of Sarajevo, on Zvijezda Mt. near Vareš from decaying moist wood in the lower part of a tree trunk of European silver fir, Abies alba. We expect that this species has a wider presence, especially in mountain areas in the central part of the country. Due to the similar environment conditions for other two European Cossonus species (C. cylindrus and C. linearis) their presence is also possible.

Background and Purpose: Dryocosmus kuriphilus is an invasive insect species of sweet chestnut (Castanea spp.) originating from China, and the only effective control measure against this pest is classical biological control with introduced parasitoid Torymus sinensis. This parasitoid has been widely released in many European countries, but it also has the ability to rapidly spread naturally. No official releases have been done in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Material and Methods: D. kuriphilus galls were collected in July 2017 on 6 localities in forest district Unsko (Una Sana canton) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Presence and parasitism rates of T. sinensis were recorded in the entomological laboratory, Croatian Forest Research Institute. T. sinensis larvae were identified morphologically and by being compared with the voucher specimens. Results and Discussion: Torymus sinensis larvae were positively identified in the examined D. kuriphilus galls from all localities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Parasitism rates ranged from 44.83 to 74%. Occurrence and high parasitism rates in Bosnia and Herzegovina observed in this study are not results of biocontrol releases of T. sinensis, but can be attributed to natural spread from Croatia. High parasitism rates observed in this study can indicate that the parasitoid was present in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2016. Conclusions: This study presents the first record of Torymus sinensis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We predict that the parasitoid will continue its spread over Bosnia and Herzegovina in sweet chestnut forests and orchards and that it will act as effective biological control agent against D. kuriphilus.