A new, native bee species has been discovered on the southern slopes of Molokai.
The new species — Hylaeus paumako — has a distinctive, all-black face never before seen in a native male species on Molokai, according to conservationists.
It has been named Hylaeus paumako, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, with “paumako” meaning mourning or grief in Hawaiian.
Karl Magnacca, an entolomologist for the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife Survey, found the new species while surveying Makolelau, an ahupuaa in East Molokai. He credited the exciting discovery to the Molokai Plant Extinction Prevention Program team, which showed him the area.
“While I didn’t expect to find many bees during my visit, the presence of the native shrub kolomona (Senna gaudichaudii) piqued my interest,” said Magnacca in a news release. “It was there that I first noticed the distinctive markings on one of the bees. I immediately realized that I had found something new.”
The Hylaeus paumako is part of a diverse group of endemic bees native to Hawaii, according to DLNR, with all 64 known species in the same genus descending from a single ancestor that arrived on the islands roughly 1 million to 1.5 million years ago.
DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife acquired Makolelau, an important watershed, in 2022 for conservation purposes.
Much of the area had suffered from degradation due to invasive species and erosion, but some pockets of native vegetation protected by fences survived. These pockets now provide crucial habitats for native species such as the Hylaeus paumako and many rare plants.
Magnacca said area’s mesic forests are the most diverse in terms of native plants and insects in general, and also the most threatened.
“Everyone’s attention is grabbed by the wet rainforest, but we have large portions of those forests protected and in relatively good shape, while dry and mesic forests are much more endangered,” he said. “So it’s really important to protect these remnant patches, even when they’re small, because our native species can survive in them.”
This was not Magnacca’s first new species discovery. He has collected some 500 new species over the past three years of field surveys, and expects to find more.
“There are quite a few that haven’t been seen in decades, and recently discovered ones that have only been seen once or twice, so they seem to be quite good at hiding from us,” he said. “I have seen them persisting in surprisingly small or degraded areas, so that gives some hope that they may actually be doing better than it seems.”
