They found a species of bee in Australia that was believed to be extinct for nearly a century

An extremely rare bee species, believed to be extinct nearly a century ago, has been rediscovered by a single researcher in Australia.

This rare “masked” bee, known as Pharohylaeus lactiferus, is native to the oceanic country and is the only species of the genus Pharohylaeus. Only six of these specimens have ever been identified in Australia and the last recorded was in 1923.

Today, almost 100 years after that date, the bee was sighted by James Dorey, a PhD student at Flinders University, while doing fieldwork in the state of Queensland. After the fact, Dorey conducted a larger study of Queensland and New South Wales devoted to finding this type of bee.

“I never really expected to find any“Dorey said WordsSideKick.with. “But we caught a lot more bees.”

Their research suggests that deforestation and wildfires – which reached an unprecedented scale in Australia in February 2020, gaining worldwide attention – could put them in danger of extinction, this time forever.

“Knowing that P. lactiferus had not been found for so long, this implied that I was looking for it as I explored my way to the coast.Dorey said. “Once I managed to find the first specimen, I had a place to start and a chance to look further.”

After the discovery, Dorey spent five months surveying 245 sites in Queensland and New South Wales in search of more masked bees. The student concentrated his efforts on some flowering plants similar to those where he encountered the first individual.. He conducted his research using a combination of viewing the flowers – to see if bees were visiting them – and “general scans” with a butterfly net on the flowers.

The research revealed three geographically isolated populations of masked bees on Australia’s east coast. Each population lives in patches of tropical and subtropical forest with a specific type of vegetation. Dorey believes that bees are especially dependent on firewheel trees (Stenocarpus sinuatus) and Illawarra flame trees (Brachychiton acerifolius).

Research has identified more specimens than ever before. But due to the mediocrity of historical records, there is no way of knowing whether masked bee populations have increased or decreased over time, Dorey explained.

Although bees can live in isolated populations because they strongly prefer certain habitats, Dorey also suspects that deforestation and increasingly severe and numerous forest fires could also play a role in their isolation.

“These bees were found in a type of rainforest that has suffered destruction and fragmentation,” Said Dorey. “This means that there is less habitat available ”and it makes“ the task more difficult for [las abejas] move between what’s left, ”he added.

Unfortunately, the rise in temperatures caused by climate change will only make forest fires worse, and deforestation also continues persistently, meaning that “These potential threats are likely to worsen”, Dorey warns.

“Smaller and lower quality fragments (of habitat) could make P. lactiferus more likely to become extinct in each and less likely to recolonize from another”, projection.

Therefore, the protection of these habitat fragments is essential for their survival.

However, it is impossible to protect species without tracking the number of bees and the changes in their habitats.

“Without it, we have no idea what’s going on in ecosystemsDorey said. “If we weren’t looking, then species decline would certainly go unnoticed and species protection would be impossible.”

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