Ultra Rare "Blue Bee" Found in Florida, After Researchers Thought It Might Be Extinct
Beautiful, metallic-blue bee is one of many amazing native bee species that could be lost forever if action is not taken to preserve their habitat. Like Hamlet, the Calamintha Bee might have wondered whether or not it will survive or die from extinction. It's a fact these rare bees have to endure the metaphorical "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" from the insidious effects of habitat loss and lethal pesticides.
This blue calamintha bee specimen was collected in 2002 in Placid Lakes and is one of five specimens at the Florida State Collection of Arthropods in Gainesville. An extremely rare blue bee that was last seen four years ago has been rediscovered by a researcher at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The metallic navy insect, a blue calamintha bee, had only been previously found in four areas "totaling just 16 square miles of pine scrub habitat at Central Florida's Lake Wales Ridge," the Florida Museum said in a news release. The discovery marks an incredible breakthrough as scientists race to learn more about the blue bee, which is currently listed by Florida's State Wildlife Action Plan as a species of greatest conservation need. "I was open to the possibility that we may not find the bee at all so that first moment when we spotted it in the field was really exciting," postdoctoral researcher Chase Kimmel, who found the bee, said in the release.