The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ( USFWS ) is radiate a spotlight on threaten bee populations . Last week , USFWSsuggestedthe rusty patch bumble bee belong on the endanger specie list . This week , it officially added seven species of Hawaiian icteric - faced bees to the list [ PDF ] . The opinion , which will go into essence October 31 , re - classifies the bee , three other animals ( the band - rumped storm - petrel , the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly , and the anchialine pocket billiards peewee ) , and 39 plant species .
Hawaiian yellow - faced bee ( genusHylaeus ) are n’t as well - known as theirbumble bee cousinsorhoneybees , but their story is no less unbelievable . A unmarried bee go to Hawaii , found a local , and mated . Their offspring multiplied and spread across the island , settling into niches in lush timber , volcanic slope , eminent comeuppance , and white - sand beaches . Today , there are no few than 63 nativeHylaeusspecies dwell in the island . Naturalist R.C.L. Perkins called [ PDF ] the yellow - faced bee “ almost the most ubiquitous of any Hawaiian insects . ”
But their glory days were numbered . Human development start to chip away at the bee ’ habitats and solid food provision , while incursive species like emmet and fly carried disease and began competing for resource . Nine of the original 63 species have not been spotted in 80 years and may be extinct . Others have fell from their original home ground , corralled into fast - flinch dependable areas . Among those are the seven freshly designated threaten species : Hylaeus anthracinus , H. assimulans , H. facilis , H. hilaris , H. kuakea , H. longiceps , andH. mana .
While it might not sound like it , queer species position is really full news in this case . The bees and their schoolfellow were already endangered ; prescribed designation is a step that makes it easy to protect them . Mary Abrams is USFWS supervisory program for the Pacific Islands office . “ Listing these species as endangered will aid draw attention to the threats that have fetch them so near to extinction , and allow us to commence the cognitive operation of bringing about convalescence , ” she say in a press statement [ PDF ] .
The designation is a good start , says Matthew Shepherd , communications conductor for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation . Still , hewriteson the beau monde ’s blog , “ there is much employment that needs to be done to ensure that Hawaii ’s bees flourish . ” Habitat loss is a major terror , but the USFWS did not call out any areas of the island as “ vital home ground , ” a recording label that would insure extra security .
Abrams emphasized that the denomination was just the beginning , add , “ We will go on working with local community , governments , manufacture , and the people of Hawaii to protect and recuperate these native species , which are an important part of what makes these islands so especial . ”
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