An evaluation of the popularity of Australian native bee taxa and state of knowledge of native bee taxonomy among the bee-interested public
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Kit Prendergast
Nov 10, 2025, 11:27:03 AM (12 days ago) Nov 10
to beemonitoring
Who's Australia's favourite native bee species?
I posed this question to people joining the Facebook group The Buzz on Wild Bees. The answers revealed both which bee species can be used as a gateway species into the world of native bees, but also which species desperately need greater media and PR attention. What comes as little surprise is that Amegilla "blue banded" bees were the favourite, followed by Tetragonula carbonaria and other sugarbag bees. Concerningly, no one said a Euryglossinae species, Stenotritidae species - two taxonomic groups entirely endemic to Australia, and specialising on Australian wildflowers (and therefore at risk of extinction). No one said a Neopasiphaeinae species were their favourite - a subfamily which includes the three listed Threatened native bee species.
The answers also pointed to another major issue that media, education, and bee and conservation organisations are neglecting, or even contributing to - a poor scientific literacy. Very few people answered with an Australian native bee species - most used a common name to refer to a group of species. This suggests that the public are unaware of the species we have, and their scientific names. This is not merely an academic exercise - the inability to name species means we cannot communicate effectively about biodiversity, and the public are unaware of the diversity there exists.
This can be seen in Australian Pollinator Week - there's little mention of the native bees that need the most attention. And the reality is, Euryglossinae are unlikely to be pollinators (they swallow pollen), and the native bees that need conservation aren't crop pollinators.
There needs to be greater investment in teaching the public about native bees and their biodiversity - not just a few common species and not by using common names. We cannot care and conserve species if we don't even know they exist.
This is where the Australian Native Bee Conservation Strategy that I am developing comes in. A core component is communication and community engagement, leading to increased recognition, education (starting at school level - native bees aren't even in school curricula!) and accurate and engaging media to raise the profile and secure the conservation of Australian native bees.
Thank you to The Buzz on Wild Bees members and moderators! (p.s. all are welcome to join, it's the most engaging, accurate and buzziest Aussie native bee group, as well as including international beeple)
Read the paper "An evaluation of the popularity of Australian native bee taxa and state of knowledge of native bee taxonomy among the bee-interested public" in Insects, also available on my Patreon The Bee Babette
Kit
Dr Kit Prendergast
Native bee scientist, conservation biologist and zoologist
University of Southern QLD Postdoctoral Researcher (Pollination Ecology)
Adjunct Curtin University and Forrest Scholar Alumni
Find native bee resources and more on my Patreon The Bee Babette: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheBeeBabette
YouTube channel The Bee Babette: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBeeBabette
'Creating a Haven for Native Bees': https://www.facebook.com/CreatingaHavenforNativeBeesBook/
Insta: @bee.babette_performer:
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