New species of bee discovered and named after MSU research scientist

Lasioglossum delphiae, a new species of sweat bee, was recently discovered and named after Casey Delphia, an MSU research professor and chief taxonomist of the Wild Bees of Montana Project. The bees consume minerals found in human sweat.

“I have worked at MSU since 2008 and over the years have conducted research on various aspects of the biology and ecology of wild native bees as well as managed solitary bees in agroecosystems and wildlands,” Delphia said.

In 2009, Delphia, who at the time was an associate curator for the Montana Entomology Collection, was given the opportunity to collect samples on the Caribbean island Saint Lucia. “It turned out that one of the bees I collected was an undescribed species, as were additional bees from that same trip. Relatively little is known about the West Indian bee fauna,” Delphia said.

Her discovery was unearthed 12 years later when she was asked to review a paper led by Jason Gibbs, a bee researcher at the University of Manitoba. The paper reported on Saint Lucia sweat bees. Delphia sent Gibbs her samples from the trip. The paper was then revised to include her findings.

“This trip was right around the time I first started working on bees, and I’ve been very fortunate to have continued working on bees since then,” Delphia said. “To revisit these specimens 12 years later, knowing so much more now than I did then, and to discover that I collected an undescribed species is really neat and feels like I have come full circle.”

The discovery of this new sweat bee species adds to the growing knowledge of global biodiversity, Delphia added. “There is still so much that is unknown about the 20,000 described species of bees and counting found worldwide,” Delphia said. “It can be very difficult to appreciate or protect what you don’t know exists, so discovering, documenting, and describing new species is an important part of gaining the fundamental baseline information needed for understanding more about bee diversity in various regions and assessing their conservation status.”

“I love working on bees,” Delphia said. “It feels very special to have one named after me, especially by a highly respected bee scientist like Dr. Gibbs. I feel so honored.”