(washingtonpost - For the first time in the United States, bees have been placed on the endangered-species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Fridaydetermined that seven species of yellow-faced bees, all native to Hawaii, should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
All seven species belong to the Hylaeus genus of bees. Together, the wasp-looking bees are more commonly known as "yellow-faced" or "masked" for their yellow-to-white facial markings.
These species are responsible for pollinating some of Hawaii's indigenous plant species, many of which are threatened themselves.
Karl Magnacca, a Hawaii-based entomologist, told the Associated Press that efforts to have the bees federally protected took nearly a decade.
"It's good to see it finally come to fruition," he told the AP, adding that yell0w-faced bees tend to favor the more dominant trees and shrubs in Hawaii, which helps "maintain the structure of the whole forest."
Magnacca did much of the initial research on the bees in support of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit that aims to protect pollinators and other invertebrates. (The group says it takes its name from the Xerces blue butterfly, "the first butterfly known to go extinct in North America as a result of human activities.")
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