Gibbs Wild Bee Lab
This site is focused on my research studying the diversity and evolution of wild bees. I am an associate professor the University of Manitoba, Department of Entomology. I am also the Curator of the J. B. Wallis / R. E. Roughley Museum of Entomology, affectionately abbreviated WRME ("worm-ee"). Find on us on Instagram?
The digitized holdings of WRME can be found here.
This site currently includes summaries of my research and publications.
My research Interests include:
Diversity of wild pollinators
Molecular phylogenetics
Integrative taxonomy
Behaviour and social evolution
Pollinator ecology
Native bee conservation
For opportunities to work or volunteer in the lab or museum, please contact me.
Left: Two Lasioglossum gotham, a recently described species, congregate at a nesting site in East Lansing, Michigan. The nesting biology of this species was described under the name L. laevissimum by Suzanne Batra in 1987.
Taxonomic impediments remain a serious issue of our understanding of bee diversity and pollinator conservation. Many genera remain challenging to identify. I use integrative approaches to delimit species and resolve taxonomic problems. My work has been primarily in halictid bees, but I am also interested in other taxa.
Right. A honey bee, Apis mellifera, dwarfs another social bee, Lasioglossum imitatum, on an onion flower in Ithaca, New York. Lasioglossum imitatum nests in underground burrows with a queen and dozens of workers.
Social behaviour has evolved multiple times in the Hymenoptera. Halictid bees, such as Lasioglossum, evolved social complexity more recently than most other social insects. As a result they still retain a high level of behavioural variation within and among species. This makes them ideal models for studying social evolution. I am interested in using phylogenetic methods and studies of nesting biology to better understand the complex behaviours of halictid bees.
Left: Cover of the pocket guide to the bees of the Great Lakes region. A pair of Lasioglossum vierecki are shown visiting milkweed.
Bees are the most important pollinators of agricultural crops and wildflowers. I am interested in developing strategies for increasing and maintaining bee diversity in human managed landscapes.