How many bee species exist? New global count puts the total near 26,000

How many bee species exist? New global count puts the total near 26,000

The world has far more bees than anyone realized. Scientists have, for the first time, estimated just how many species of bees are out there on a global scale, offering a clearer look at how these vital pollinators are distributed around the planet. The landmark study, led by University of Wollongong (UOW) evolutionary biologist Dr. James Dorey, provides the most comprehensive count to date—broken down by continent and country—calculating there …

Science knows of 21,000 bee species. There are likely thousands more

It’s a question that has sparked the curiosity of scholars and bee lovers for decades: how many species of bees are there in the world? This might, at first, seem like a silly question. But it is a topic of genuine importance – especially if we want to protect our pollinators. Now, in a new paper published in Nature Communications, we provide the first statistically derived estimate of bee species richness around the world. But this work isn’t j…

How many undiscovered bee species exist?

Global estimates point to far more bee diversity than believed For the first time, scientists have produced a global scale estimate of how many bee species exist, and the result suggests there are thousands more than commonly recognised. The work moves beyond regional checklists and scattered…