研究人员认为这些金属蓝色的蜜蜂已经灭绝了——直到他们在佛罗里达看到它们

研究人员认为这些金属蓝色的蜜蜂已经灭绝了——直到他们在佛罗里达看到它们

An extremely rare blue bee has been spotted in Central Florida, a discovery that thrilled researchers who suspected the insect might have become instinct.

佛罗里达中部发现了一只极其罕见的蓝色蜜蜂，这一发现让那些怀疑这种昆虫可能是出于本能的研究人员兴奋不已。

The blue calamintha bee is believed to live only in the Lake Wales Ridge region of Central Florida, one of the fastest-disappearing ecosystems in the U.S. (Photo: Chase Kimmel)

Last recorded four years ago, the blue calamintha bee was seen by Florida Museum of Natural History researcher Chase Kimmel in the Lake Wales Ridge region in March. The metallic, navy blue insect had only been previously spotted in four locations in a 16-square-mile area of Lake Wales Ridge, according to a museum press release.

佛罗里达自然历史博物馆的研究人员切斯·金梅尔今年3月在威尔士海脊地区发现了蓝菖蒲蜂，这是四年前的最后一次记录。根据博物馆的新闻发布，这种金属的，深蓝色的昆虫之前只在16平方英里的威尔士湖脊的四个地方被发现过。

"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," said Kimmel, a postdoctoral researcher.

博士后研究员Kimmel说:“我不排除我们可能根本找不到蜜蜂的可能性，所以当我们第一次在野外发现它的时候真的很激动。”

The bee depends on a blooming plant known as Ashe’s calamint for pollination. (Photo: Chase Kimmel)

Florida's State Wildlife Action Plan lists the blue calamintha — or Osmia calaminthae — as a species of greatest conservation need, and this research could help determine whether it qualifies for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

佛罗里达州的国家野生动物行动计划将蓝菖蒲列为最需要保护的物种，这项研究将有助于确定蓝菖蒲是否符合《濒危物种法案》的保护要求。

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says Lake Wales Ridge is a "vanishing ecosystem." The ridge is home to 23 of the nation’s rarest plants, four rare animal species, and four globally rare plant communities.

美国鱼类和野生动物管理局说，威尔斯岭湖是一个“正在消失的生态系统”。山脊上生长着美国最稀有的23种植物，4种稀有动物，以及4个全球稀有植物群落。

Researchers placed dozens of bee condos where the bees and their favorite flowers were spotted. (Photo: Chase Kimmel)

The blue calamintha is a solitary bee, according to the museum. It creates and lives in individual nests instead of hives like honeybees do. Researchers have yet to find any blue calamintha nests. They know, however, that the species is part of the genus Osmia, which often uses existing structures — like holes in dead trees, hollow stems, or ground burrows — as nests.

根据博物馆的说法，蓝菖蒲是一种独居的蜜蜂。它繁衍并生活在单独的巢穴中，而不是像蜜蜂那样生活在蜂巢中。研究人员还没有发现蓝菖蒲的巢穴。然而，他们知道，该物种是Osmia属的一部分，通常使用现有的结构——如死树的洞，空心茎，或地洞——作为巢穴。

Researcher can learn more about the bee's nesting preferences when they see which holes they choose to use.

研究人员可以了解更多关于蜜蜂筑巢的偏好，当他们看到蜜蜂选择使用的洞。

Until this recently discovery, researchers weren't sure the blue calamintha bee still existed. (Photo: Chase Kimmel)

Before the bee was spotted in March, it hadn't been since since 2016. Kimmel has since found it in three places where it had been seen before and in six new areas as far as 50 miles away. That's "good news for the species," the museum says. The goal for the project over the next year is to record the bee in as many locations as possible to learn its range and to gain greater understanding of the insect.

在今年3月发现这只蜜蜂之前，它从2016年起就再也没有出现过。自那以后，Kimmel在3个以前见过它的地方和6个50英里以外的新地方发现了它。博物馆说，这“对物种来说是个好消息”。该项目明年的目标是在尽可能多的地点记录蜜蜂，以了解其活动范围，并对这种昆虫有更深入的了解。

"We're trying to fill in a lot of gaps that were not previously known," Kimmel said. "It shows how little we know about the insect community and how there's a lot of neat discoveries that can still occur."

金梅尔说:“我们正在努力填补许多以前不为人知的空白。这表明我们对昆虫群落的了解是多么的少，而且仍然可以有很多新的发现。”

Some research has been stilted due to the pandemic. Kimmel has been allowed to continue traveling and living at the Archbold Biological Station in the area. But other researchers — including adviser Jaret Daniels, director of the museum's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity — have been unable to join him. Volunteers would have helped with the project, mapping potential sites of Ashe's calamint, but their work has been suspended too.

由于流行病，一些研究被搁置。基梅尔被允许继续在该地区的阿奇博尔德生物站旅行和生活。但其他研究人员——包括顾问加雷特·丹尼尔斯，博物馆鳞翅目和生物多样性麦圭尔中心主任——一直未能加入他的行列。志愿者们本可以帮助这个项目，绘制阿什灾难的潜在地点，但他们的工作也被暂停了。

"All of this work is a collaboration," Daniels said. "It takes an army to make it happen, you couldn't do it without all the broader community of assistance that makes a project work to generate good results."

“所有这些工作都是合作完成的，”丹尼尔斯说。“这需要一支军队来实现，如果没有更广泛的社区的帮助，你不可能做到这一点，而社区的帮助可以让项目产生良好的结果。”