(Photo By: Alain Pauly/Belgian Journal of Entomology)
By: Abigail Klein Leichman - January 10, 2021
A new species of bee unique to the sand dunes of Israel’s coastal plains has been identified and described by Alain Pauly, a taxonomist from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
The species was named Lasioglossum dorchini in tribute to the Israeli bee researcher Achik Dorchin of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University.
This new type of bee is especially exciting because a decline in the world bee population is putting crop pollination in danger.
Crop pollination relies mainly on managed colonies of the domesticated honeybee. However, wild, unmanaged bees are also highly effective in pollinating natural and agricultural systems.
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