Initiator of the project
Felix Amiet (Soleure)

with the collaboration of Mike Hermann (Constance), Andreas Müller (ETH, Zurich) and Rainer Neumeyer (Zurich)

Partners
OFEFP, Naturhistorisches Bern Museum, Natural History Museum of Geneva, Zoological Museum of Lausanne, Natural History Museum of Sion. 

Description
This project, stimulated by Felix Amiet began in 1995. Its goal is to carry out a synthesis of the knowledge accumulated for more than one century on some 600 species of solitary bees, and to give the possibility to the interested entomologists of identifying them without too many difficulties. Taking into account the high number of species concerned, it is carried out in stages whose sequence is fixed:

• development of a provisional identification key richly illustrated for the treated genera.
• identity validation of individuals issued by public or private Swiss collections, by means of the above-mentioned key and propositions for its improvement according to the problems encountered.
• using specimens of the collections whose identification has been validated
• processing of data collected and publication of the distribution maps of species (CSCF)
• drafting of the final version of the key and texts species by species
• translating the key into French (CSCF)
• publication of the entire data in the Fauna Helvetica series (CSCF)

Five volumes were already published according to this approach: 

• Hymenoptera, Apidae 1 (1996;  ISBN 2-940150-01-X):  Apis, Bombus and Psithyrus
• Apidae 2 (1999;  ISBN 2-88414-015-8):  Colletes, Dufourea, Hylaeus, Nomia, Nomiodes, Rhophitoides, Rophites, Sphecodes, Systropha (out of stock)
• Apidae 3 (2001;  ISBN 2-88414-017-4):  Halictus, Lasioglossum
• Apidae 4 (2004;  ISBN 2-88414-021-2):  Anthidium, Chelostoma, Coelioxys, Dioxys, Heriades, Lithurgus, Megachile, Osmia, Stelis
• Apidae 5 (2007 ; ISBN 2-88414-032-4) : Ammobates, Ammobatoides, Anthophora, Biastes, Ceratina, Dasypoda, Epeoloides, Epeolus, Eucera, Macropis, Melecta, Melitta, Nomada, Pasites, Tetralonia, Thyreus, Xylocopa
• Apidae 6 (2010 ; ISBN 978-2-88414-039-3) : Andrena, Melitturga, Panurginus, Panurgus

Deadline
The date of publication of the sixth and final volume cannot yet be fixed; the validation work of the specimen identification in the collections having just begun.  The reprinting of out of stock volumes or ones for which modifications are planned will only be considered after the release of the last volume devoted to the group.