Biodiversity of bees (Hymenoptera: Apidea: Anthophila) of the Baja California peninsula

Authors: DE PEDRO, DIEGO - Centro De Investigacion Cientifica Y De Educacion Superior De Ensenada; CECCARELLI, FADIA - Centro De Investigacion Cientifica Y De Educacion Superior De Ensenada; SAGOT, PHILIPPE - El Colegio De La Frontera Sur (ECOSUR); LOPEZ-REYEZ, EULOGIO - Centro De Investigacion Cientifica Y De Educacion Superior De Ensenada; MULLINS, JESSICA - University Of California, San Diego; MERIDA-RIVAS, JORGE - Centro De Investigacion Cientifica Y De Educacion Superior De Ensenada; FALCON-BRINDIS, ARMANDO - University Of Kentucky; Griswold, Terry; ASCHER, JOHN - National University Of Singapore; GARDNER, JOEL - Washington State University; AYALA, RICARDO - Autonomous National University Of Mexico; VIDES-BORREL, ERIC - Ecosur; VANDAME, REMY - Ecosur

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Interpretive Summary: Pollination is a necessity for production of many foods in agriculture and for many non-agricultural plants to reproduce. Bees provide much of this essential pollination. Because reductions in bees are occurring due to changes in land use, climate change, pesticide use and invasive bees, we need to know more about how and where it is happening. The southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico are hotspots of bee diversity. The Baja California Peninsula of Mexico is part of this region that includes several different biological areas but is largely unexplored for bees. Extensive surveys of bees were conducted in Baja California from 2019 to 2023. At the same time researchers visited major museums to find bee specimens from Baja California. The result was the first list of bees for Baja California. The surveys found 521 kinds of bees, but only 340 with names, 93 of them had not previously known to be in Baja. When the records from museums were added there were 728 species for the Baja California Peninsula, 82 of them not known to occur anywhere in Mexico before this study.

Technical Abstract: Technical Abstract: Pollination, a vital ecosystem service, is facing a decline worldwide due to the decrease of pollinator populations and diversity due to various factors, including land-use change, climate change, pesticide use, and invasive species. However, significant gaps remain in our understanding of pollinator diversity, particularly within the Hymenoptera order, necessitating comprehensive documentation to inform effective conservation actions. Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea), with over 20,000 described species, are crucial pollinators in terrestrial ecosystems. Bees are especially diverse in regions between latitudes 30° and 40° north with the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico being biodiversity hotspots. The Baja California Peninsula in northwestern Mexico, characterized by diverse biogeographic regions, remains relatively unexplored, with fauna knowledge primarily derived from sporadic expeditions. To address the knowledge gaps in bee diversity, we conducted extensive fieldwork from 2019 to 2023, visited entomological collections in Mexico and USA, and accessed digital databases and community science platforms to compile records. As a result of our field surveys, we identified a total of 521 morphospecies, with 340 recognized as valid species, including 93 new records for the Baja California Peninsula and 70 novel findings for Mexico. Additionally, our visits to entomological collections resulted in the identification of 24 new species for the Baja California Peninsula, 12 of which are new to Mexico. Furthermore, by combining the new and existing records, we created a comprehensive checklist of native bee species, documenting 728 species for the Baja California Peninsula, 612 for the state of Baja California, and 300 for Baja California Sur. Additionally, we synonymized Lasioglossum (Dialictus) daggetti (Cockerell, 1916) under Lasioglossum (Dialictus) grinnelli (Cockerell, 1916), contributing to taxonomic clarity within the genus.