Masked bees in Australia and French Polynesia have long-lost relatives in Fiji, suggesting that the bees’ ancestors island hopped.
In 1965, renowned bee biologist Charles Michener described a new species of masked bee from “an entirely unexpected region,” the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. Michener named the beeand noted that its nearest relatives live in New Zealand — some 3,000 miles away across the Pacific Ocean. How did a small bee make such a big journey?
It turns out that the answer was buzzing above scientists’ heads all along. By swinging insect nets high up in the trees, researchers discovered eight species ofisland-hopping across the PacificMasked bees island-hopped across the South Pacific, evolving into separate species on islands including New Zealand, Australia, the Tuamotu Archipelago and Fiji, new research suggests. How exactly the bees made the trek and what path they took remain a mystery.
Bee searchers usually snag their quarry by sweeping nets low to the ground. But during a trip to Fiji in 2019, evolutionary biologist James Dorey of Wollongong University in Australia took a different approach. He knew that some bees in Australia tend to fly in the canopy of eucalypt trees, or gum trees, and thought bees in Fiji might do the same. He equipped himself with a longer net and started swinging it skyward.Searching for bees in treetops is relatively rare.
Bee diversity is typically highest in dry environments, not on tropical islands. But scientists collecting bees on Pacific islands, including Viti Levu Island of Fiji, seen here, found eight new species hiding just above their heads.Dorey and his collaborators have a strong relationship with local Fijians, especially in Navai Village on the main island of Viti Levu, and with Fijian scientists like coauthor Marika Tuiwawa, a botanist at the University of the South Pacific.