Taxonomy
Overview
I have worked extensively on the taxonomy of halictid bees. My focus has been on the genus Lasioglossum, which is the most species rich bee genus in the world. There are approximately 1800 described species (for a full list go here). To date I have described 48 species of Lasioglossum. A paper published with colleagues Alain Pauly and Michael Kuhlmann described a new subgenus, Capalictus, endemic to the western cape of South Africa. This new subgenus was supported in part by my phylogenetic studies. I have also described 2 species of Habralictus (Halictidae), 2 species of Sphecodes (Halictidae) and 1 species of Chilicola (Colletidae). I have used an integrative approach to taxonomy, which uses a combination of data sources including morphology, DNA sequence data, and geography. For a full list of scientific papers on bee taxonomy see my Publications.
My phylogenetic and taxonomic work is making progress towards a stable and robust classification of sweat bees. Early classifications included numerous unnatural groups, but this is beginning to change. Some of my recent publications have already made significant changes to the classification of the genus Lasioglossum.
Above: A preserved male specimen of Lasioglossum swenki.
Below: A range map of Lasioglossum swenki produced using a maximum-entropy niche modelling approach. Black dots indicate geo-referenced specimens.
Current projects
Joel Gardner (PhD student) is tackling a revision of the Lasioglossum (Dialictus) of western North America.
Recent progress
A recent paper (Feb. 2018) on the Lasioglosusm of Puerto Rico described three new species. Another recent paper (Feb. 2018) summarized results of DNA barcoding of Lasioglossum (Dialictus) in Canada and the eastern United States.
