Kevin Scheers

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Verified

Kevin verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• Bachelor of Science
• Research Assistant at Research Institute for Nature and Forest

The ornamental pet trade has emerged as one of the most important pathways for the introduction of non‐native aquatic species. In the last two decades, freshwater crayfish have become a popular ornamental group, with numerous non‐native populations established through this way, including some populations of the North American red swamp crayfish Pro...

The invasive mosquito species Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) is rapidly spreading in Europe, posing an increasing threat because of its high vector competence for chikungunya and dengue virus. An integrative and eco-friendly control of these populations is required to prevent mosquito-borne disease outbreaks. Traditionally-used insecticides or othe...

In 2020, four populations of the marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis, which is included on the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern, were discovered in northern Belgium. These records represent the first established populations of this invasive parthenogenetic species in the Benelux. The marbled crayfish seems wellestablished at all...

Minute Bidessini diving beetles of the genus Neoclypeodytes Young, 1967 from Panama are reviewed. Two new species, Neoclypeodytes balkei sp. nov. and N. fortunensis sp. nov. are described from Campana, Panama Province in central Panama, and La Fortuna, Chiriqui province in western Panama, respectively. Both species differ from all congeners by the...

We present the first Belgian records of potentially invasive alien crayfish of the Procambarus acutus species complex, including the first confirmed record of P. acutus acutus. The species complex was observed at four different sites in three provinces in the north of the country. Only at one site the presence of a form I male specimen made identif...

Flanders is now home to seven invasive crayfish species, introduced through various channels including aquaculture and the aquarium trade. These crayfish outcompete the native European crayfish (Astacus astacus), which has already declined significantly due to overfishing, poor water quality, and susceptibility to crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astac...

A standardized protocol for estimating invasive crayfish population size by capture mark recapture for fast assessment of unnavigatable waterways

Freshwater crayfish are amongst the largest macroinvertebrates and play a keystone role in the ecosystems they occupy. Understanding the global distribution of these animals is often hindered due to a paucity of distributional data. Additionally, non-native crayfish introductions are becoming more frequent, which can cause severe environmental and...

Records count per crayfish taxa integrated in WoC platform.

Crayfish and A. astaci records integrated in WoC platform count per major hydrographic basins.

Crayfish and A. astaci records integrated in WoC platform count per country.

Diving beetles are worldwide the top predators in fish free aquatic habitats. To get a preliminary idea of the suitability of large diving beetles as nature-based solution, an exploratory experiment was set up with the large diving beetle Cybister lateralimarginalis and the invasive marbled crayfish.

Invasive crayfish have become well-established in Flanders. Most of the species are widespread and eradication seems improbable. Yet, managers are looking for control measures to mitigate the density dependent impacts of invasive crayfish. This preliminary experiment explores predation of two benthic predatory fish burbot (Lota lota) and European c...

An updated checklist of the Belgian Hydradephaga is presented. In total 146 species of Hydradephaga are known from Belgium with certainty. This includes 112 Dytiscidae, 11 Gyrinidae, 20 Haliplidae, one Hygrobiidae and two Noteridae. Graphoderus austriacus (Sturm, 1834) is recorded from Belgium for the first time. New provincial records are given fo...

De Vlaamse Waterweg nv streeft naar een doordacht beleid voor het beheer van invasieve uitheemse soorten in haar werkingsgebied. Deze ambitie resulteerde in de noodzaak om prioritaire invasieve uitheemse oever- en waterplanten te identificeren. Deze planten kunnen immers, zowel nu als in de komende decennia onder de invloed van verwachte klimaatsce...

In recent years, we have witnessed an increasing number of reports regarding non-native invasive crayfish in Flanders. This increase applies not only to the number of observations but also to the number of species. While several crayfish species are listed as species of Union concern sensu the EU IAS Regulation (EU1143/2014), limited initiatives ha...

Six taxonomic errors and one relevant taxonomic change were discovered after publication of “Mislabelling may explain why some prohibited invasive aquatic plants are still being sold in Belgium” Van den Neucker T, Scheers K. 2022. Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 423: 8. This corrigendum lists the changes that need to be made in the paper and in Appendice...

In this note the status of the burying beetle Nicrophorus sepultor Charpentier, 1825 as a Belgian species is confirmed based on eight specimens found in the collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS). The records are presented, mapped and the diagnostic features of this species are given.

A new inland population of the rare ground beetle Amara strenua Zimmerman, 1832 is reported for Belgium. This species was encountered during a survey using pitfall traps at Abdij van Park near Heverlee. This observation marks the first record in Flemish Brabant, as well as the most inland known population of A. strenua in Flanders. Details on the h...

In Belgium, a voluntary code of conduct intended to prevent introduction of invasive plants through the horticultural trade has been implemented since 2009. European Regulation 1143/2014 that imposes legal bans on a number of plant taxa entered into force in 2015. However, studies regarding the presence of invasive plants in the Belgian horticultur...

The taxonomic composition of the Bidessini of Belize is reviewed based on literature and material collected by the authors during a field survey in 2015. During the field survey a total 683 specimens of Bidessini were collected belonging to nine species of which six species are reported for the first time from Belize: Anodocheilus francescae Young,...

This report describes the compilation and contents of ‘Watervlakken’ (version 1.2), a georeferenced digital layer of stagnant surface waters in Flanders (northern Belgium). The combination of various topographical maps with a thorough screening of orthophotographic images for the entire area, a detailed digital terrain model and terrain observation...

We report the first records of Mimela junii (Duftschmid, 1805) in Belgium. As the records go back to 2012, we interpret that the species has established at least at one location and possibly already about a decade ago. In Sint-Niklaas a population has established in a residential area and adjacent park while other records from 2021 are located in d...

Nitella confervacea (Charophyta) in Flanders (Belgium): the current situation. As in much of Europe, the inconspicuous charophyte Nitella confervacea appears to have always been extremely rare in Belgium. Following 80 years without any observations, a few plants were found in a small pond in 2006, not long after it had been cleared. Not long after...

Australian Swamp Stonecrop Crassula helmsii is currently one of the most challenging invasive aquatic plants in Flanders. This article provides guidelines to practitioners for the management of this already widespread species in Flanders and aims to offer a toolkit for choosing the most suitable management strategy at the local level. We provide an...

Alle Taxa Biodiversiteit Inventarisatie en 30 jaar natuurbeheer

The authors report on the occurrence of introduced populations of non-native taxa belonging to the subgenus Chrysocarabus Thomson, 1875 in Belgium. More information is provided regarding the species and habitats. Résumé. Les auteurs signalent la présence en Belgique d'espèces introduites appartenant au sous-genre Chrysocarabus Thomson, 1875. De l'...

The diverse biotopes in the current domain of Park Abbey exist for centuries. Yet little is known about their biodiversity. In this report we present the results from a yearlong survey on carabids, ants and hoverflies with pitfall and Malaise traps. Additionally, we sampled land and freshwater gastropods, carrion and water beetles, moths and vegeta...

Till ten years ago, Cucujus cinnaberinus (Scopoli, 1763) was largely restricted to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia and likely extinct in entire Western Europe. In 2014, the first observation was done in Belgium. Since 2017, large populations have been found spreading quickly throughout Flanders. Currently, the species has spread over large areas in...

In the course of the Belgian Silphidae Project, four specimens of Silpha tyrolensis Laicharting, 1781 were encountered when studying the unidentified Silphidae in the entomological collection of the Haute École Provinciale de Hainaut-Condorcet in Ath. These are the first records of this species for Belgium and are from the period 1990-2010. Subsequ...

In this paper we report the first record of Grynocharis oblonga (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Benelux based on a specimen collected in Northern Belgium. The ecology of this species is discussed and the European distribution is mapped.

SUMMARY De Knijf G., Scheers K., Denys L. & Adriaens T. 2020. Exotic crayfish in Belgium: time to claw back the expansion. Natuur.focus 19(4): 156-163 [in Dutch]. Invasive alien species (IAS) are considered to be one of the major threats to biodiversity on Earth. Their negative impact is especially severe in aquatic ecosystems. Until now crayfish d...

This report represents an extended version of the chapter on Invasive Alien Species of the Flemish State of the Environment report 2020. Invasive Alien Species represent a growing threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services in the region. This report describes the current situation of introductions and impact of alien species in Flanders and revi...

This article provides the first records of Anthrenus angustefasciatus (Ganglbauer, 1904) from Belgium based on 30 records submitted on the citizen science platform www.waarnemingen.be. The species, which is mainly distributed in the southern part of the province West-Vlaanderen, was first encountered in 2016 and is increasing significantly since 20...

ABSTRACT Invasive non-native species represent a major problem for the biodiversity and management of nature reserves and vulnerable habitats. Their control is often difficult and requires knowledge of the species in question, as well as of target and non-target effects of possible actions, next to considerable perseverance of the manager and a fr...

This paper deals with the taxonomic composition, distribution and ecology of the genus Thermonectus Dejean, 1833 in Belize. During a field survey in 2015 three species were found: Thermonectus basillaris (Harris, 1829), T. circumscriptus (Latreille, 1809) and T. margineguttatus (Aubé, 1838). These are the first records of this genus in Belize.

New records of Tolypella (Charophyceae) in Belgium. Three Tolypella species (T. glomerata, T. intricata and T. prolifera) have been recorded in Belgium, all of them only sparingly and with most observations dating from the 19 th C. We document new records of T. glomerata and T. intricata from stagnant fresh water in the Flemish region and discuss t...

Dealing with spatially explicit information at a regional level requires a unique geographic reference framework. This was missing for stagnant waters in Flanders (Belgium), mainly because existing GIS layers were insufficiently accurate or did not include many small water bodies. Therefore, the new GIS layer ‘Watervlakken’ was compiled, providing...

English abstract. This report describes the situation of the Kallemoeie-Papelenvijver in terms of physico-chemical water quality, macrophytes (riparian and aquatic vegetation) and avifauna in the monitoring period 2015-2019 and provides a comparison with the previous reporting of the monitoring period 2001-2015. Based on the available data, there i...

Several specimens of Hydrodytes opalinus (Zimmermann, 1921) were found in a coastal wetland on Basse Terre island in Guadeloupe. This is the first record of the subfamily Hydrodytinae Miller, 2001 from the Caribbean Basin north of Trinidad. This finding sheds light on the biogeographical history of the subfamily by bridging the gap between its main...

We present records of seven new carabid species for Belgium as well as new records of 67 rare carabid species collected or identified in Belgium mainly during the period 2008-2018. Detailed information about these records is discussed in relation to previously available distributional or taxonomic knowledge. These recent records improve the general...

A total of 27 sites in the Polish part of the Polesie region were investigated for aquatic and wetland-associated beetles during the field sessions of the Balfour-Browne Club Meeting (23-30.05.2016). These comprised a mixture of fens and Sphagnum peat bogs, ditches draining fens, oxbow lakes of the Bug River, and sand excavations. A total of 408 sp...

Recently, unattached viable stem fragments of the invasive macrophyte Cabomba caroliniana Gray were found at several locations in two canals in northern Belgium. A subsequent survey of the canal Zuid-Willemsvaart revealed one site with rooted plants and the presence of floating stem fragments along the entire length of the canal (25 km). These find...

Dit rapport beschrijft de samenstelling en inhoud van een nieuw gegeorefereerd digitaal bestand van stilstaande oppervlaktewateren in Vlaanderen. Het bestand, opgebouwd door combinatie van bestaande topografische kaartlagen, orthofotobeelden en het digitaal terreinmodel Vlaanderen versie II, omvat 86.026 polygonen met een grootte tussen 1,45 m2 en...

A new species of the Copelatus erichsonii group is described. Copelatus yaguarete sp. nov. was collected from rock pools in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (CBWS) in Belize (Central America). The species is superficially similar to Copelatus terminalis Sharp, 1882 with respect to its coloration but is readily distinguished by both external c...

The taxonomic composition of the subfamily Laccophilinae Gistel, 1848 in Belize is reviewed based on material collected by the authors during a field survey in 2015 and literature. In total eight species were collected belonging to two genera. Four species are recorded from Belize for the first time: Laccophilus duplex Sharp, 1882; L. fasciatus fas...

In this article the first records of the water beetle Hydrovatus clypealis Sharp, 1876 for Belgium is presented and discussed. Additionally an update on the distribution of Hydrovatus cuspidatus (Kunze, 1818), an increasing species in Belgium, is provided. The characters by which to distinguish both species are mentioned and the distribution of the...

In this article we review the Burrowing Water Beetles (Coleoptera: Noteridae) from Belize based on recently collected material and literature records. In total nine species belonging to four genera are recorded from Belize. Six species, i.e. Hydrocanthus debilis Sharp, 1882, H. marmoratus Sharp, 1882, Mesonoterus leavicollis Sharp, 1882, Suphisellu...

Abstract: Agabus didymus (Olivier, 1795) and A. dilatatus (Brullé, 1832) are newly recorded for Croatia. The new records are given and the ecology and overall distribution of both species is mapped and discussed. With the addition of these two species, the number of species of Dytiscidae known from Croatia increases to 122. Résumé: Agabus didymus...

Abstract: Donacia crassipes Fabricius, 1775 is an easily recognizable species of reed beetles (Donaciinae). The species is associated with Nymphaeaceae (both Nymphaea and Nuphar species). The species was not uncommon in Belgium until 1950, afterwards a notable decline was seen in the number of known records and from 1950 onwards only five records a...

In 2015 I wrote an article in which I gave an account of all known records of Dytiscus latissimus Linnaeus, 1758 and Graphoderus bilineatus (Degeer, 1774) from Belgium (Scheers, 2015). D. latissimus was last collected in 1921 near Kalmthout and for G. bilineatus this was in 1948 near Herentals. Thinking I had seen all material in the museum collect...

In this paper we report the first Belgian records of the invasive Chinese mystery snail Bellamya chinensis. A walkover-survey along the Laak, a small lowland river, yielded a total of 20 live B. chinensis. The presence of both juvenile and adult individuals, with a shell height ranging from 16.6 to 47.5 mm, indicates that the species is firmly esta...

During a short collecting trip to Montenegro in 2014, 26 locations were sampled and 692 specimens belonging to 45 species of water beetles were collected. The following species are recorded for the first time from Montenegro: Haliplus dalmatinus J. Müller, 1900, Haliplus heydeni Wehncke, 1875, Haliplus laminatus (Schaller, 1783), Hydroporus erythro...

We report a sizeable population of Carolina fanwort Cabomba caroliniana from Belgium. The new population was discovered in June 2013 and represents the only occurrence in the Atlantic region of this country. A previous record dates back to 1998 but by 2006 this population was eliminated unintentionally by dredging works. Cabomba caroliniana is expe...

During an eco-hydrological study on the aquatic habitats in the nature reserve ‘Ophovenerheide’ Dytiscus lapponicus Gyllenhall, 1808 was encountered in two small oligotrophic lakes. The species was only known from two populations in the province of Antwerpen. This new record also represents the Southernmost confirmed population of D. lapponicus in...

Herophydrus musicus (Klug, 1834) is the only species of the genus Herophydrus (Sharp, 1882) occurring on the European mainland and is districted to a few countries in the south. Here the first records of Croatia, Bulgaria and the Greek island of Peloponnese are presented. These new distribution records expand the known range of the species in Europ...

Dytiscus latissimus Linnaeus, 1758 and Graphoderus bilineatus (Degeer, 1774) are listed as appendix II and IV species of the EU Habitat Directive and the Natura 2000 network. The last confirmed records of D. latissimus and G. bilineatus are from respectively 1921 and 1948 and both species are now considered to be extinct in Belgium. Despite the att...

Recent research (BERGSTEN et al., 2012) has shown that the former Suphrodytes dorsalis (Fabricius, 1787) actually contains two species. Re-examination of most Belgian material revealed that both species are present in Belgium. In this article, the distribution of Suphrodytes dorsalis (Fabricius, 1787) and Suphdrodytes figuratus (Gyllenhal, 1826) ar...

Hydrovatus cuspidatus (Kunze, 1818) and Graptodytes bilineatus (Sturm, 1835) have always been very rare in Belgium, but recently, both species have known a rapid expansion. In this article, the distribution, trend and habitat in Belgium of both species are described and discussed.

Yola bicarinata (Latreille, 1804) is a West-Mediterranean species, which reaches its northern limit in the Netherlands. In 2010, this species was rediscovered in the Netherlands (VERDONSCHOT et al., 2011) and in 2011 a population of this species was found in the north of Belgium. Moreover, three additional observations were done in the Netherlands....

In this paper, the presence and the installation of the invasive Cerambycidae species Callidiellum rufipenne (Motschulsky, 1861) in Belgium are confirmed with its discovery in ten different sites in 2014. Based on all the observations recorded for our country, a current distribution map for the species is established. A list of host plants of this...

Until now eight species of Great diving beetles (genera Cybister and Dytiscus) were present in Flanders. Currently three species (D. circumcinctus, D. latissimus and D. semisulcatus) seem to be regionally extinct. D. dimidiatus is nowadays only known from some nature reserves in the east of the country, while D. lapponicus is recently observed in t...

In Belgium, H. cinctella was collected for the first time in May 1994 in Honnelles (Bois d'Angre). There was a twelve year gap before the second observation, which occurred in November 2006 in Labussière (Carrière des Carmes) and between 2007 and 2011 four more localities were found. Since 2012 the number of observations has increased significantly...

RINSE aimed to advance management of invasive species in the 2 Seas Region and stimulate cross-border collaboration in this field. Australian swamp stonecrop was one of the target species. The poster presents an outline of the work on this species in Flanders (Belgium) and the adjoining part of the Netherlands.

Attempts to control aquatic Crassula helmsii at Huis ter Heide (Tilburg, The Netherlands), with special reference to dye treatment Cost nor effort were spared to control, if not eradicate, the highly invasive amphibious plant Crassula helmsii in a newly created shallow pond (1.23 ha) adjoining the heath and moorland pools of the Dutch nature reserv...

The water beetle Hydroporus ferrugineus Stephens, 1829 was recorded for the first time in Flanders and the Brussels region. This species was previously only known from the ‘Hautes Fagnes’ in the province of Liège, but there are recent records from the Brussels region and the provinces of Oost- Vlaanderen, Luxembourg and Hainaut. In this article, th...

In this article Hydroporus scalesianus Stephens, 1828 is reported as new for Belgium. All records are summarised and mapped. Furthermore, the distribution and habitat are briefly discussed.

Waterroofkevers zijn een zeer interessante groep aquatische insecten met een rovende levenswijze. Op de Belgische soortenlijst staan er 109 soorten waarvan er 94 ook uit de provincie Antwerpen gemeld werden. Door achteruitgang van de waterkwaliteit en het verdwijnen van moerassen en poelen zijn veel soorten sterk achteruitgegaan. Tijdens recent ond...

Dit rapport is het resultaat van een verkennend onderzoek naar de verspreiding en zeldzaamheid van de waterroofkevers in Vlaanderen. De vorige Rode lijst van de waterroofkevers van Vlaanderen (Bosmans 1994) is alweer 18 jaar oud en een nieuwe Rode lijst drong zich op. Verder werden er nog nooit eerder verspreidingskaarten gemaakt van alle soorten....

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