Rediscovery of the ‘extinct’ bee Hesperocolletes douglasi Michener, 1965 (Colletidae: Colletinae: Paracolletini) in Western Australia and first description of the female

Juliana Pille Arnold,Mark V Murphy,Raphael K Didham,Terry F Houston

doi:10.11609/jott.4610.11.3.13310-13319

Juliana Pille Arnold, Mark V Murphy + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4610.11.3.13310-13319

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Abstract

The second known specimen of the bee Hesperocolletes douglasi Michener, 1965 is here reported as a serendipitous find among a collection of insect pollinators from an isolated woodland remnant in the Southwest Floristic Region of Western Australia. The unique male holotype of this monotypic genus of bees was collected 80 years ago and officially gazetted as presumed extinct in 1994. With our collection of a female specimen in 2015, however, it now appears that H. douglasi may persist as an extant localised population. Follow-up efforts to find more specimens at the collection locality so far proved unsuccessful, indicating that the species is likely either very rare or inhabits an ecological niche that is yet to be discovered. Analysis of the pollen load carried by the female indicates that the species may be polylectic. We discuss the context of the rediscovery of the bee, provide a detailed description and illustrations of the female, and make observations about the unusual morphological characteristics of the species. The rediscovery of H. douglasi emphasizes the importance of conservation efforts for remnant woodlands in the region, both as potential habitat for the bee and as remaining habitat essential for other rare and threatened species in this global biodiversity hotspot.

Highlights

Wild bees are crucially important to crop production and the maintenance of native plant biodiversity globally (Ollerton et al 2011; Winfree et al 2011; Garibaldi et al 2013; Mallinger & Gratton 2015; Ollerton 2017)
We describe the rediscovery of H. douglasi, provide details of the location and circumstances of collection of the specimen, report on the pollen load the bee was carrying, and present the first formal description of the female
A single female specimen of Hesperocolletes douglasi was collected with a sweep net on 08 October 2015 at 10.20h in a Banksia woodlands remnant located c. 15km west of Muchea Township and 41km north of Perth in Western Australia (Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

Wild bees are crucially important to crop production and the maintenance of native plant biodiversity globally (Ollerton et al 2011; Winfree et al 2011; Garibaldi et al 2013; Mallinger & Gratton 2015; Ollerton 2017). Despite widespread land clearing and degradation, the last decade saw an increase of 10% on the number of recorded plant species in the SWFR (Gioia & Hopper 2017), indicating that the region still harbours very high levels of biodiversity that is yet to be described. Other anthropogenic disturbances such as sand extraction, inappropriate fire regimes, dieback, invasive species, hydrologic degradation, climate change, and loss of keystone species are currently threatening the region’s ecosystems (Hobbs 1998; Coates & Atkins 2001; Threatened Species Scientific Committee 2016), potentially resulting in declines of pollinating and seed-dispersing fauna and their associated flora

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