General Information / Nominating Organizations: Please use this Column to Provide the Requested Information
1 / Organization & Web address / The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation; www.xerces.org
2 / Contact name for species info / Sarina Jepsen
3 / Address / 628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232
4 / Email & phone / ; (971) 244-3727
5 / Communications staff contact name / Matthew Shepherd
6 / Email & phone / ; (503) 807-1577
General Species Information
7 / Common name, genus, and species / Yellow-faced bee; genus Hylaeus.
There are seven species of Hylaeus in Hawai‘i that are in particular peril and have recently been given “endangered” status under the ESA: H. anthracinus, H. longiceps, H. assimulans, H. facilis, H. hilaris, H. kuakea, and H. mana.
The information presented in this nomination is for H. assimulans.
8 / Geographic range / Hylaeus assimulans is endemic to four of the Hawai‘ian Islands, Maui, Lanai, Oahu, and Kahoolawe. The species is historically known from numerous coastal strand and dry lowland locations up to 610 m (2000 ft) elevation. Recent collections of H. assimulans have been made in only 5 sites on Maui, Kahoolawe, and Lanai. It is apparently extirpated from Oahu.
9 / Conservation status / Listed as “endangered” under ESA.
These seven Hawai‘ian Hylaeus species are the first and only bees to gain ESA protection. To date, only seven species of Hylaeus have been petitioned for ESA protection. Further species are imperiled and deserve such protection.
10 / Remaining population size / The total population size is unknown, but most of the historic habitat has been lost.
Report Questions
11 / Can you provide high-resolution photos? / Yes
12 / If your species is selected, will you use the report to advocate for the species? / Yes
13 / 5 free reports provided; additional copies = $2.60/each. If you’d like additional copies, how many (bulk orders may be cheaper)?
Public Engagement Questions (Please explain why the species is interesting, why it matters, why decision-makers + the public should care.)0
14 / Provide background information, including interesting facts, for the species profile. / Vacationers lying on the beaches of Hawai‘i can be only yards away from some the rarest animals in the United States.
The naturalist R.C.L. Perkins, who spent more than a decade surveying the Hawai‘ian Islands between 1892 and 1906, referred to yellow-faced bees as “almost the most ubiquitous of any Hawaiian insects.”
Yellow-faced bees get their name from the yellow markings on their faces—though not all have yellow markings. Some are entirely black.
Islands often support unique wildlife and the yellow-faced bees of Hawai‘i are no exception. All of the islands’ native bees are in one genus, Hylaeus, with just a few dozen species, many of which are found on a single island and nowhere else in the world.
15 / What is your organization’s most important lead message for the public about this species’ decline to be included in the report? / Hawai‘ian yellow-faced bees are an essential component of the islands’ natural habitats. These tiny insects sustain native vegetation and help to hold together entire ecosystems.
16 / Is your NGO saving the species? If yes, how? / The Xerces Society developed comprehensive status reviews and listing petitions for seven species of yellow-faced bees. The petitions were developed in close collaboration with Dr. Karl Magnacca, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Hawai‘i–Hilo. All seven of the petitioned species were recently listed as endangered under the ESA.
17 / How can individuals help? Please be specific. / The best thing an individual can do is to support native habitat restoration on the Hawai‘ian Islands and avoid spreading additional invasive species.
18 / What action should the new administration take to save the species? How can they accomplish this action? / The administration can provide adequate funding for comprehensive surveys and develop comprehensive recovery plans for all seven species.
Criteria-specific Questions – Please feel free to answer N/A or “see above/below” as appropriate. Please cite scientific studies.
19 / Detail the ecological importance of the species. Does it play a critical function in its ecosystem, e.g., as a foundational species or keystone species? How does the ecosystem depend on this species (e.g., keystone predator, keystone pollinator, ecological engineer, refugia provider, etc.)? / Hawai‘ian yellow-faced bees (Hylaeus) are the only bees native to Hawai‘i. The islands are home to 63 known endemic species, about 10% of the world’s yellow-faced bees and more than are found in this genus in all of North America. They are important pollinators of many of the most important trees and shrubs of Hawai‘i – ‘ōhi‘a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) and ‘ōlapa (Cheirodendron spp.) in wet forests; māmane (Sophora chrysophylla), naio (Myoporum sandwicense), ‘akoko (Chamaesyce spp.), ‘a‘ali‘i (Dodonaea sandwicensis), and pūkiawe (Leptecophylla tameiameiae) in dry forests and shrublands; silverswords and their relatives (Argyroxiphium and Dubautia spp.) and nohoanu (Geranium spp.) in subalpine areas; and naupaka (Scaevola taccada), ‘ohai (Sesbania tomentosa), pā‘ū o Hi‘iaka (Jacquemontia ovalifolia), and ‘ilima (Sida fallax) at the coast.
The decline of Hylaeus populations might further exacerbate the loss of native plants. Native Hawai‘ian plant species depend almost entirely on endemic pollinators such as Hylaeus species for reproduction and must be cross-pollinated. Plant species endemic to islands are rarely apomictic or able to reproduce by self-pollination or vegetative means, while many invasive species do have the ability to reproduce in these ways.
Lipochaeta lobata var. leptophylla (nehe), federally listed as an endangered species, only occurs on Oahu. It is possible that former populations of H. assimulans on Oahu pollinated this plant.
20 / Detail information on any social or economic benefits the species provides—e.g., its value for clean water, recreation, medicine, scientific research, etc.—if any. (Optional) / By maintaining the native habitats, these bees support clean watersheds as well as recreation opportunities. Their role as a keystone species in natural areas also supports a host of other wildlife, rare and not so rare, which draws birdwatchers and other tourists.
21 / Can the species be an ambassador for its habitat or taxonomic group? If yes, detail. / Yes. Pollinators are a high-profile group of animals, one for which there is little necessity to make a case for why they are important. People understand pollinators.
Judge’s Score for Importance of Species:
22 / Describe the specific threat(s) to the species. What are the greatest impacts? / The primary threats to H. assimulans are:
1. Scarcity of habitat, and habitat loss due to development or land conversion.
2. The displacement and decline of native flora that they depend on by invasive plant species, fire, and feral ungulates.
3. Predation by invasive ants such as Anoplolepis gracilipes (the long-legged ant) and Pheidole megacephala (the big-headed ant).
4. Competition for resources with invasive honey bees (Apis mellifera).
5. Predation by Vespula pensylvanica (the western yellow-jacket wasp).
23 / Detail the current and projected decline of the species. / We do not have accurate estimates of decline, but much of the habitat for the seven listed species has been lost or severely degraded.
24 / If not described above, detail the status of the species’ habitat(s). What are the threats, if any? Is there adequate connectivity? / Coastal strand habitat Coastal strand habitat is one of the most endangered habitats on the Hawai‘ian Islands. The coastal strand habitat that remains is in small remnant patches, and most of these remnants have been overtaken by invasive plant species and have relatively low diversity. The restricted and isolated nature of coastal strand habitat makes species that depend on these areas even more at risk. Most of the former coastal strand habitat has been converted for urban development, tourist resorts, pasture, military use, lost to fire or overcome with invasive vegetation. Increased access to coastal areas, and resulting habitat disturbance, has been facilitated by coastal development and road-building.
Lowland dry forest and lowland dry shrubland Dry lowland forest and shrubland were once abundant and considered some of the most diverse of all Hawai‘ian habitat types but are now very rare. More than 90% of dry forests in Hawai‘i have been destroyed, and there are concerns that remaining areas could disappear without targeted conservation and restoration efforts. Loss of lowland dry habitats is due to conversion for other uses, or the influx of nonnative plant species that out compete native species. Loss of native plant diversity from lowland forests is one of the primary causes of the decline of Hawai‘ian Hylaeus species.
The replacement of native vegetation with invasive plant species The loss of native plant species from dry lowland habitats is one of the main causes of decline of Hylaeus species. Aggressive nonnative species are increasingly replacing native flora in coastal strand and dry lowland habitats. The spread of invasive plant species is a threat to populations of H. assimulans because Hylaeus species depend closely on native vegetation for nectar and pollen and are almost entirely absent from habitats dominated by invasive vegetation.
Habitat disturbance by feral ungulates A number of coastal and lowland plant species listed as endangered by the federal government are threatened by the presence of feral ungulates. Some of these are confirmed foraging sources for Hylaeus species. Feral ungulates present in or around coastal and lowland shrub and forest areas on the Hawai‘ian Islands include pigs (Sus scrofa), cattle (Bos taurus), and goats (Capra hircus).
25 / Describe the timing of the species’ threat(s). Is it a current, eminent, or future threat? / The threats exist and are ongoing.
26 / Indicate if there is an associated political threat, e.g., does an industry group or member of Congress threaten this species? / No specific policies threaten this species, but a lack of funding for conservation and recovery of listed endangered species is a major impediment.
Judge’s Score for Severity and Extent of Threat:
Judge’s Final Score
Further information:
“Hawaii's Native Bees - Nalo Meli Maoli,” by Karl Magnacca. Download at http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/uhmg/news/V9-Magnacca-NativeBee.pdf.
“Petition to list one species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bee, Hylaeus assimulans, as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act,” prepared by Lisa Schonberg, Sarina Jepsen, and Scott Hoffman Black; submitted by the Xerces Society on March 23, 2009. Download at http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/hylaeus_assimulans_petition.pdf.
ESA petitions for all seven Hawai‘ian yellow-faced bees can be found at http://www.xerces.org/petitions/. These petitions include full citations for all relevant literature supporting the status and conservation needs of these bees.
Please submit to by July 29, 2016, and thank you for participating in the 2016 Top 10 Report.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies