Bizarre New Bee Species Discovered With Dog-Like Snout - SciTechDaily

A caller autochthonal bee taxon with a dog-like “snout” has been discovered successful the Perth bushland of Western Australia. It was identified done Curtin University-led probe that sheds caller airy connected our astir important pollinators.

Dr. Kit Prendergast, from the Curtin School of Molecular and Life Sciences, named the caller taxon aft her favored canine Zephyr aft noticing a protruding portion of the insect’s look looked akin to a dog’s snout. The sanction besides acknowledges the relation her canine played successful providing affectional enactment during her PhD. Dr. Prendergast is the writer of a insubstantial connected the find that was published connected October 31 successful the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

According to Dr. Prendergast, the uncommon and singular uncovering would adhd to existing cognition astir our evolving biodiversity. It would besides guarantee the bees, named Leioproctus zephyr, were protected by conservation efforts.

“When I archetypal examined the specimens that I collected during my PhD surveys discovering the biodiversity of autochthonal bees successful urbanized regions of the southwest WA biodiversity hotspot, I was instantly intrigued by the bee’s precise antithetic face,” Dr. Prendergast said.

“When I went to place it, I recovered it matched nary described species, and I was definite that if it was a known species, it would beryllium rather casual to place fixed however antithetic it was successful appearance.

“You tin lone corroborate a peculiar taxon erstwhile you look astatine them nether a microscope and spell done the agelong process of trying to lucifer their characteristics against different identified species, past going done depository collections.

“When perusing the WA Museum’s Entomology collection, I discovered that a fewer specimens of Leioproctus zephyrus had archetypal been collected successful 1979, but it had ne'er been scientifically described.”

Dr. Prendergast said she was excited to play a relation successful making this taxon known and officially naming them.

“Insects successful wide are truthful divers and truthful important, yet we don’t person technological descriptions oregon names for truthful galore of them,” Dr. Prendergast said.

“The Leioproctus zephyr has a highly restricted distribution, lone occurring successful 7 locations crossed the southwest WA to date, and person not been collected from their archetypal location. They were wholly absent from residential gardens and lone contiguous astatine 5 municipality bushland remnants that I surveyed, wherever they foraged connected 2 works taxon of Jacksonia.

“Not lone is this taxon fussy, they besides person a clypeus that looks similar a snout. Hence, I named them aft my canine Zephyr. She has been truthful important to my intelligence wellness and well-being during the challenging play of doing a PhD and beyond.”

Dr. Prendergast was capable to corroborate that the caller taxon was astir intimately related to different taxon of unidentified Leioproctus done DNA barcoding.

Reference: “Leioproctus zephyr Prendergast (Hymenoptera, Colletidae, Leioproctus), an oligoletic caller bee taxon with a distinctive clypeus” by Kit S. Prendergast, 31 October 2022, Journal of Hymenoptera Research.
DOI: 10.3897/jhr.93.85685