In this paper the first record of the alien mantis species Hierodula tenuidentata for Bosnia and Herzegovina is provided. This large mantis has considerably expanded its distribution range in Europe in the last years, particularly in Balkan Peninsula. We found several adult specimens on 22nd and 23rd of August 2021 in urban area of Mostar city in the south of the country. This finding confirms the species’ establishment in the western part of Balkan Peninsula and fills the distribution gap along the eastern Adriatic Sea coast.

Recent progress in the taxonomy of flat bark beetles (Cucujidae), specifically, in the genus Cucujus, has revealed great diversity in subtropical Asia, but the seemingly well-known temperate and boreal taxa need further attention because of their conservation status. Here, we used an integrative approach using morphology, DNA, and species distribution modelling to disentangle phylogenetic relations, verify the number of species, and understand the historical biogeography of Palearctic and Nearctic Cucujus beetles, particularly the C. haematodes species group. Species distinctiveness was supported for C. cinnaberinus, but present-day C. haematodes turned out to be a species complex made up of separate lineages in the western, middle and eastern parts of its Palearctic range. Cucujus muelleri was a member of that complex, being sister to Asian C. haematodes. Moreover, C. haematodes caucasicus was found to be phylogenetically closely related to Italian C. tulliae, and both to be sister to European C. haematodes. North American C. clavipes clavipes and C. c. puniceus resulted to be enough divergent to be considered different species. Interestingly, western American C. puniceus turned out to be closely related to the C. haematodes complex (including C. muelleri), whereas eastern American C. clavipes constituted a separate lineage, being distantly related to both C. puniceus and C. cinnaberinus. These patterns suggest former trans-continental connections among the ancestors of extant flat bark beetle species. Moreover, a divergent lineage of C. cinnaberinus was found in Calabria, which should be regarded at the very least as a subspecies. The ancestor of C. hameatodes group originated in mid-Miocene, and next, c. 6.2 Mya, a line leading to C. cinnaberinus had split. Speciation of the American lineages occurred during Pliocene (4.4 Mya for C. clavipes and 3.3 Mya for C. puniceus). Species classified as C. haematodes, C. tulliae and C. muelleri, as well as distinct lineages within C. cinnaberinus split during mid Pleistocene (c. 1.5 Mya). A comparison of species climatic requirements and their present distribution allowed to identify glacial refugia in south-eastern areas of North America (C. clavipes), south-western areas of North America (C. puniceus), and the Mediterranean and Caspian Sea Basins (European Cucujus species), or south-eastern areas of Asia and the foothills of the central Asian mountains (eastern C. haematodes). Subsequent climatic changes in the Holocene forced these beetles to move their ranges northwards along the coasts of the Pacific (C. puniceus) or Atlantic (C. clavipes), north-eastwards to central, northern, and eastern Europe (C. cinnaberinus and European C. haematodes) or Siberia (Asian C. haematodes). The combined use of molecular, morphological and climatic data allows a comprehensive understanding of the phylogenetic relations and past distributions of Cucujus beetles, highlighting the complexity of C. haematodes species group evolution.

Hoverflies (Syrphidae) are a large Dipteran family, distributed almost worldwide. They play very important ecological roles such as plant pollination, nutrient recycling and predation of plant pests. The members of the genus Epistrophe Walker, 1852 are medium-sized hoverflies of which about 75 species have been described in the World, and 12 of them occur in Europe. During a survey, conducted from 16th June to 4th July 2021 at Blidinje Nature Park (Bosnia and Herzegovina), a new species, of the fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was recorded – Epistrophe diaphana (Zetterstedt, 1843) and new records for species Epistrophe leiophthalma (Schiner & Egger, 1853) were observed. Specimens were collected from inflorescences of Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium L.). Information about the records, species habitats, distribution and status in the country and the region is presented and discussed in this research work.

In terms of Rhopalocera diversity Kosovo is one of the least studied areas in Europe. During 2018 we visited Kosovo on several occasions and gathered a total of 500 records of 98 species of butterflies or 57% of the 171 species known from the area so far. While our survey was not systematic and most localities were visited only once, the data gathered provide an important addition to the butterfly diversity of Kosovo. During this survey some species of European importance such as Lycaena dispar and Euphydryas aurinia were observed, adding to the knowledge about their distribution in the region. 14 of the recorded species are listed in the Red book of the fauna of Kosovo while six are listed in the European Red list of butterflies.

Pyrrhalta viburni (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is a chrysomelid native to Eurasia. It gained importance as an invasive species in North America due to its ability to cause serious damage to native and ornamental Viburnum spp. plants. In our study Pyrrhalta viburni was recorded as a new record in the fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has been recorded on four locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the region of Sarajevo. As it is feeding on Viburnum spp. that are commonly used as ornamental plants, its monitoring in urban and other habitats is suggested.

Abstract Background We have developed a new platform named "Biologer" intended for recording species observations in the field (but also from literature resources and collections). The platform is created as user-friendly, open source, multilingual software that is compatible with Darwin Core standard and accompanied by a simple Android application. It is made from the user’s perspective, allowing everyone to choose how they share the data. Project team members are delegated by involved organisations. The team is responsible for development of the platform, while local Biologer communities are engaged in data collection and verification. New information Biologer has been online and available for use in Serbia since 2018 and was soon adopted in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total, we have assembled 536 users, who have collected 163,843 species observation records data from the field and digitalised 33,458 literature records. The number of active users and their records is growing daily. Out of the total number of gathered data, 89% has been made open access by the users, 10% is accessible on the scale of 10×10 km and only 1% is closed. In the future, we plan to provide a taxonomic data portal that could be used by local and national initiatives in Eastern Europe, aggregate all data into a single web location, create detailed data overview and enable fluent communication between users.

Aerogels are the least dense and most porous materials known to man, with potential applications from lightweight superinsulators to smart energy materials. To date their use has been seriously hampered by their synthesis methods, which are laborious and expensive. Taking inspiration from the life cycle of the damselfly, a novel ambient pressure‐drying approach is demonstrated in which instead of employing low‐surface‐tension organic solvents to prevent pore collapse during drying, sodium bicarbonate solution is used to generate pore‐supporting carbon dioxide in situ, significantly reducing energy, time, and cost in aerogel production. The generic applicability of this readily scalable new approach is demonstrated through the production of granules, monoliths, and layered solids with a number of precursor materials.

Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann, 1910 is an invasive bug species native to the western part of North America and one of 16 alien Heteroptera species in Europe. After it was first found in Italy in 1999, the species spread fast across the continent, including the Balkan Peninsula. Our study confirms the species presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and gives data on its distribution, including the earliest records for the country. Up untill now the species is found at nine different locations in the period from 2008 to 2016. The record from early spring 2008 suggests that the species was already present in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2007 or even earlier. Most records pertain to overwintering adults. For the first time the species is reported from Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii H. Christ). The species is also reported from Klek village in Dubrovnik region, south Croatia.

Rad razmatra problematiku ispunjavanja obaveza Bosne i Hercegovine u oblasti zastite prirode na njenom evropskom putu. Narocita pažnja pridaje se analizi rezultata cetiri do sada sprovedena projekta koja se ticu procesa uspostavljanja evropske ekoloske mreže Natura 2000 u BiH. Na bazi svih relevantnih naucnih i strucnih podataka rad daje reviziju referentne liste vrsta sa Aneksa II Direktive o stanistima i Aneksa I Direktive o pticama, kao i reviziju liste stanista sa Aneksa I Direktive o stanistima, znacajnih za izdvajanje buducih Natura 2000 podrucja na teritoriji države. Biljna vrsta Himantoglossum adriaticum Baumann, znacajna za Evropsku uniju, prikazuje se kao nova za Bosnu i Hercegovinu. Predložena revidirana referentna lista vrsta broji 238 vrsta od cega 11 nije pominjano ni u jednoj dosadasnjoj referentnoj listi, a neki ranije razmatrani taksoni i stanisni tipovi su izbrisani sa liste. Na kraju, rad ustanovljava neke nedostatke prijedloga mreže Natura 2000 u BiH i daje glavne smjernice kako bi ovaj važan proces trebao biti nastavljen.

The Habitats Directive is one of the foundations of the EU nature and biodiversity policy. It defines establishment of a European ecological network of special conservation areas, known as Natura 2000. This is an EU-wide network of areas established to ensure the long-term survival of Europe’s most valuable and threatened habitats and species that are listed in the Annexes I and II of the Directive. Among insects, beetles represent one of the most represented groups in the Annex II of the Directive, with 38 listed species. This paper presents the data on the distribution of Natura 2000 beetle taxa in the area of the Sutjeska National Park and Mt. Zelengora that are mainly result of our field research conducted in 2015 and 2016. New data were gathered from 15 sites during the field research of the insect fauna in the canyons of the Hrcavka and Sutjeska rivers in the period from June 25 to July 03, 2015, as well as during the research of the dragonfly fauna of the lakes of Mt. Zelengora conducted in 2015 and 2016 (from July 13 to July 17, 2015, and from July 29 to August 31, 2016). In addition, the paper includes the data on the beetle findings in the studied area from the literature and entomological collections of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. New field data on the distribution in the investigated area are presented for four beetle taxa, namely Cucujus cinnaberinus, Lucanus cervus (previously recorded in the investigated area as well), Morimus asper funereus and Rosalia alpina, while species Cerambyx cerdo and Osmoderma eremita are known to inhabit the area on the basis of the literature data and the collections of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 30 findings were reported from 20 sites, out of which 19 represent new findings for the study area, that are collected in 2015 and 2016. All recorded taxa are indicators of the preserved forest habitats, and all are found in forest communities near watercourses. It is especially important to emphasize the high density of the M. asper funereus population in the canyon of the Hrcavka river, where on each of two individual beech tree trunks up to 10 adults were registered. Most significant are the records of C. cinnaberinus, a species that was not recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1960s.

High mountain habitats of Bosnia and Herzegovina are often isolated and difficult to access. That is why to this day, the dragonfly fauna of the mountain region in BiH remained almost entirely unexplored. The aim of this study was to present the first overview of the dragonfly fauna of Zelengora Mt. and the National Park Sutjeska, the area which includes some of the most important habitats of these insects in the country. This paper is a result of the authors’ research combined with the analysis of existing data. The dragonfly (Odonata) fauna of Zelengora Mt. and NP Sutjeska consists of a total of 35 species, representing 55% of the fauna of this insect order in BiH. Together with data obtained with the studies in 2015 and 2016, this paper also includes unpublished data collected by the authors between 2009 and 2014, literature data and the data from the collections of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 457 records from 53 sites were collected and over 76% of these represent new data. According to the number of sites inhabited by a single species, the most numerous are: Cordulegaster bidentata Selys, 1843 (recorded at 26 sites), Cordulia aenea (Linnaeus, 1758) (23 sites), Aeshna grandis (Linnaeus, 1758) (15 sites), Libellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus, 1758 (15 sites) and Enallagma cyathigerum (Charpentier, 1840) (14 sites). The following localities were inhabited by the highest number of species: Orlovacko Lake (22 species), Gornje Bare Lake (20 species) and Donje Bare Lake (19 species), where also the highest number of threatened and endangered species was recorded. The most important recorded species were: Coenagrion scitulum (Rambur, 1842), Coenagrion hastulatum (Charpentier, 1825), A. grandis, Aeshna juncea (Linnaeus, 1758), Somatochlora metallica (Vander Linden, 1825), Cordulegaster heros Theischinger, 1979, C. bidentata and Sympetrum flaveolum (Linnaeus, 1758). For relict species C. hastulatum and S. metallica, mountain lakes of Zelengora Mt. are the only known habitat in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far. Additionally, these lakes were determined as the most important habitats in the country for A. grandis and A. juncea. Among the registered species, 30 species are included in the Red list of protected species in Republic of Srpska. Additionally, we have recorded all three dragonfly species listed on the Red list of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, C. heros is listed in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive of the European Union and as vulnerable (VU) species on the Mediterranean Red list.