911爆料网

A new native bee species with a dog-like 鈥渟nout鈥� has been discovered in Perth bushland though 911爆料网-led research that sheds new light on our most important pollinators.

Published in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, author Dr Kit Prendergast, from the 911爆料网 School of Molecular and Life Sciences, has named the new species after her pet dog Zephyr after noticing a protruding part of the insect鈥檚 face looked similar to a dog鈥檚 snout, and to acknowledge the role her dog played in providing emotional support during her PhD.

Dr Prendergast said the rare and remarkable finding would add to existing knowledge about our evolving biodiversity and ensure the bees, named Leioproctus zephyr, were protected by conservation efforts.

鈥淲hen I first examined the specimens that I collected during my PhD surveys discovering the biodiversity of native bees in urbanised regions of the southwest WA biodiversity hotspot, I was instantly intrigued by the bee鈥檚 very unusual face,鈥� Dr Prendergast said.

鈥淲hen I went to identify it, I found it matched no described species, and I was sure that if it was a known species, it would be quite easy to identify given how unusual it was in appearance.

鈥淵ou can only confirm a particular species once you look at them under a microscope and go through the long process of trying to match their characteristics against other identified species, then going through museum collections.

鈥淲hen perusing the WA Museum鈥檚 Entomology collection, I discovered that a few specimens of Leioproctus zephyrus had first been collected in 1979, but it had never been scientifically described.鈥�

Dr Prendergast said she was excited to play a role in making this species known and officially naming them.

鈥淚nsects in general are so diverse and so important, yet we don’t have scientific descriptions or names for so many of them,鈥� Dr Prendergast said.

鈥淭丑别 Leioproctus zephyr has a highly restricted distribution, only occurring in seven locations across the southwest WA to date, and have not been collected from their original location. They were entirely absent from residential gardens and only present at five urban bushland remnants that I surveyed, where they foraged on two plant species of Jacksonia.

鈥淣ot only is this species fussy, they also have a clypeus that looks like a snout. Hence, I named them after my dog Zephyr. She has been so important to my mental health and wellbeing during the challenging period of doing a PhD and beyond.鈥�

Through DNA barcoding, Dr Prendergast was able to confirm that the new species was most closely related to other species of unidentified Leioproctus.

The full paper is titled 鈥�Leioproctus zephyr Prendergast (Hymenoptera, Colletidae, Leioproctus), an oligoletic new bee species with a remarkable clypeus鈥� and is .