Schwarzia gretae
Wild bees are easy to collect either with a net or by catching them in passive intercept traps, such as a Malaise trap (If you do fancy a 4-wing challenge try catching a dragonfly with a net some time). Because of their importance as supplemental pollinators (lending the honey bee a hand) wild bees have been the subject of innumerable studies taxonomic, behavioural and ecological. With all that attention you’d think they would have given up most of their secrets by now. And, yes, bees are very well known throughout the world. Kenya is no exception and 362 different species have been recorded from the country. So, to find a previously undescribed species of bee is kind of a big deal, discovering two is exceptional, sampling three not likely at all, discovering a 4th (don’t be ridiculous!) – unless serendipitously you find yourself in an undersampled habitat like eastern Kenya savanna. And what were we doing to have such luck? Searching for the terrible hairy fly at Ukasi Hill, of course (you remember that from the insect of the week featured on 5 June 2023). A nice bushy area at the base of the hill looked like a habitat most bees and wasps would like. Half an hour later we had a Malaise trap up and running. Over the next few years of sampling at Ukasi we had discovered and described 3 new species of Schwarzia; S. icipensis, S. gretae, and S. elizabethae plus a 4th in S. lualenyi (the latter courtesy of Peter Steward who collected it from a similar habitat near Taita Hills). Attached is an image of S. gretae and the habitat at the base of Ukasi Hill during the rainy season.
Credits: Dr Robert Copeland