The chromosome numbers of 95 populations of taxa belonging to the Scilla bifolia group growing in the territory of Western Carpathians, and adjacent part of the Pannonian lowland (Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic – Moravia) are presented. Scilla kladnii Schur (41 populations) and S. vindobonensis Speta (18 populations) have only the chromosome number 2n = 18. Both these diploid taxa seem to be karyologically uniform throughout their distribution. For S. drunensis (Speta) Speta subsp. drunensis (2 populations), and S. drunensis subsp. buekkensis (Speta) Kereszty (15 populations) the chromosome number 2n = 36 was found. For S. spetana Kereszty (2 populations), the chromosome number 2n = 54 was confirmed for Hungary and Austria. For two groups of populations of S. drunensis s.l. from Slovakia (14 populations in total) the chromosome number is 2n = 36, which is new information for the Western Carpathians. Apart from tetraploids, hexaploid populations with 2n = 54 were confirmed for three localities in Slovakia and Czech Republic (Moravia). All results are compared with earlier published data.
Hoplitis pici (Friese, 1899) is a rare species of bee occurring in southeast Europe, Turkey and the Near East. The females are equipped with conspicuous hooked bristles on the galeae of the proboscis. Microscopical analysis of both pollen contained in the abdominal scopa and sticking to the bodies of females indicates a distinct preference of H. pici for the flowers of Muscari Miller (Hyacinthaceae), which are characterized by having the anthers completely hidden within an urn-shaped corolla. Field observations showed that the specialized bristles serve to scrape pollen out of the Muscari flowers. Specialized bristles aiding female bees to extract pollen from narrow flower tubes must have independently evolved at least eight times in osmiine bees. H. pici is the only osmiine species known to use its pollen-harvesting bristles to exploit host plants other than narrow-tubed Boraginaceae.