Jason Gibbs / Magnolia Press Lasioglossum gotham, also known as
the gotham bee, is one of 11 newly identified bee species. One
researcher has identified 11 new species of sweat bees,
including a bug named in honor of Gotham City — but in a sense,
these bees aren't new at all. They've probably been right under
our noses all this time. The new identifications were made by
Cornell entomologist Jason Gibbs by checking dead-bee
collections and conducting DNA tests. Species names and
descriptions were published last month in the journal Zootaxa as
part of a reshuffling of the family tree for 97 species of sweat
bees. Gibbs said there may be thousands of bee species yet to be
identified. "This highlights the need for additional studies of
our major pollinators," and not just honeybees, he told me. One
bee may look like another, but there can be subtle morphological
and genetic differences that set them apart. If the bees are so
dissimilar that they can't breed with each other, they're
considered separate species. Mi