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Bee experts wouldn't have previously expected to find the likes of Osmia cyaneonitens, Dufourea dilatipes and Stelis heronae in Washington. But this year, researchers added eight new bee species to a list of the state's native pollinators.

While collecting pollinators in Chelan County to study how climate and wildfires affect native bee populations, Autumn Maust, a UW research scientist of biology, discovered eight bee species never recorded in Washington and 100 species that had not previously been documented in Chelan County. Expert taxonomists from Utah to British Columbia helped her identify the bees, which were photographed in high resolution for her research.

"It's a really exciting moment. Sitting with an expert taxonomist to determine the identity of an undocumented bee filled me with awe," Maust said. "They cited subtle characteristics that I would not have even known to examine. The findings also have important implications for biodiversity. It's difficult to conserve a species when we don't know its name or native range."

Taxonomists refer to detailed sets of characteristics to differentiate bees by family, genera and species. The morphological qualities of bees are incredibly diverse, and individual species can vary in small but significant ways. Bees can be distinguished from each other by the shape and structure of wing veins, hair color on the "terga"鈥攑lates forming the bee's abdomen鈥攁nd the location of "scopa," or pollen carrying hairs.

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If you are interested in bees, Maust said, the Washington Bee Atlas trains volunteers to find, collect, and identify native bees. Individuals can also share bee photos and observations on sites like iNaturalist where the data is made available to researchers.

The research is in the journal Check List.