Pollinator enthusiasts and scientists have new online tools to identify native bees in the Pacific Northwest.
Pollinator enthusiasts and scientists have new online tools to identify native bees in the Pacific Northwest.
The publicly available “keys” resemble the field guides familiar to fans of fauna and flora but contain the extraordinary detail needed to identify bees, which are much harder to tell apart than plants, birds, mammals and reptiles, according to Jim Rivers of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.
“With birds for example, one characteristic can tell you whether it’s a California scrub-jay or a Steller’s jay,” said Rivers, who helped develop the keys. “Bees are not that way. Many species appear identical at first but are in fact distinguished by very small, nuanced differences.”
Read more at: Oregon State University
Bombus flavidus female lateral (Photo Credit: Josh Dunlap, Oregon Department of Agriculture)
