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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304356604577341683875011896.html?KEYWORDS=urban+buzz%3A+a+new+bee+that+sips+sweat<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Urban
Buzz: A New Bee That Sips Sweat <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h2><b><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Native
Insects Getting Closer Look; Humans as 'Salt Lick'<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'></span><article itemscope="" itemtype="http://nik.io/v1/schema/Article"><span
itemprop=permalink content="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304356604577341683875011896.html">By
<a
href="http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=ROBERT+LEE+HOTZ&bylinesearch=true">ROBERT
LEE HOTZ</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>NEW YORK</span></font></st1:State>—A new bee is
buzzing in <st1:place w:st="on">Brooklyn</st1:place>: The tiny insect, the size
of a sesame seed, sips the sweet nectar of the city—sweat. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"They
use humans as a salt lick," said entomologist John Ascher, who netted the
first known specimen of the species in 2010 while strolling in Brooklyn's <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Prospect</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Park</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> near his home. "They land on
your arm and lap up the sweat."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>North America</span></font></st1:place> is home to
thousands of species of native bees. But they have long been overshadowed by
imported honeybees, prized for their honey and beeswax since the time of the
Pharaohs and a mainstay of commercial agriculture. Now, native bees are
generating serious buzz. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304356604577341683875011896.html?KEYWORDS=urban+buzz%3A+a+new+bee+that+sips+sweat"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=272 height=153
id="_x0000_i1027" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CD26B6.B12F8FC0"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=targetcaption><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>New York City</span></font></st1:place></st1:City>
is a hive of activity and one of the most diverse cities in the world. It's
also host to hundreds of bee species, including one newly discovered specimen
that lives on human sweat. WSJ's Lee Hotz reports.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For Mr.
Ascher, 41 years old, nothing quite brightens the day like a new box of
unidentified bees landing on his desk from some distant glade. So puzzling was
the greenish-blue city bee he netted, though, that it took Mr. Ascher, who
oversees a digital catalog of 700,000 bee specimens at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">American</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
of Natural History, months to pinpoint its proper place in the insect kingdom. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In the
end, only DNA testing by sweat bee specialist Jason Gibbs at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Cornell</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
could identify its niche. Last November, they announced the discovery of <em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">Lasioglossum gotham</font></i></em>, in a peer-reviewed
journal called Zootaxa. The newbie joined the growing catalog of easily
overlooked wild native bees.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sweat
bees don't have a high profile outside academic circles. Unlike honeybees,
which were originally imported from <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>,
native bees don't make much honey. To their credit, though, sweat bees rarely
sting; their occasional pinprick registers a one on the Schmidt Sting Pain
Index, the lowest on the four-point scale. (Bullet ants and the tarantula hawk
wasp rate a four.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Photos:
Sweat Bee Generates Buzz<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304356604577341683875011896.html?KEYWORDS=urban+buzz%3A+a+new+bee+that+sips+sweat"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=262 height=174
id="_x0000_i1028" src="cid:image002.jpg@01CD26B6.B12F8FC0"
alt="[SB10001424052702304811304577367951402514714]"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><cite><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Jason Gibbs/Cornell University</span></font></i></cite>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=targetcaption><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>A new species of sweat bee, Lasioglossum gotham, was
discovered in the Brooklyn borough of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New
York</st1:place></st1:State> in 2010, joining the growing catalog of easily
overlooked wild native bees. Shown, a Lasioglossum gotham specimen.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://online.wsj.com/public/page/0_0_WP_2003.html">More photos and
interactive graphics</a> </span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>These
bees prefer sweaty people—over most animals—because the human diet
usually is so salty that their perspiration is saturated with the essential
nutrient, experts said. Yet most people never notice when the tiny bees alight
on a bare arm or leg. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>As it
turns out, Mr. Ascher and his colleagues are discovering <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City> is a hive of activity. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>By latest
count, about 250 species of native bees are known to nest in sidewalk cracks,
traffic median strips, parks, and high-rise balcony flower pots—more
perhaps than any other major city in the world, several entomologists said. In <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Prospect</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Park</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> alone, at least 90 species of
native bees flit from flower to flower among the park's sun-dappled golden rod,
dandelions and dogwood. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"For
certain species, the city is as good as or better than a natural area,"
Mr. Ascher said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Hovering
around city parks and flower beds are masked bees, miner bees, mason bees,
plasterer bees, cuckoo bees, leafcutter bees, horned bees, and at least 49
species of sweat bees. "We routinely see bees 30 stories up in window
gardens," Mr. Ascher said. A local bumblebee has even been spotted on the
observation deck of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Empire</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Building</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sweat
bees often live unobtrusively. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"You
can have sweat bees nesting in your front yard and never know it," because
they are so small and mild-mannered, said Cornell's Mr. Gibbs. "Hundreds
can nest in a square meter of lawn."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>As an
urban wilderness, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>
continues to surprise field biologists. Not so long ago, museum bug hunters
discovered a new genus of centipedes—perhaps the world's
smallest—under the fallen leaves in Central Park. In 2009, a new species
of cockroach turned up in a <st1:place w:st="on">West Side</st1:place>
supermarket. Earlier this year, researchers at <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Rutgers</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">California</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>
identified a previously unknown species of leopard frog whose natural range
centers on Yankee Stadium.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
discovery of this new sweat bee species—which belongs to a large family
of bee species that depend on human perspiration for salt to
survive—highlights the importance of the thousands of native bee species
in pollinating plants, flowers and fruits. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sweat
bees aren't ready to swarm into the commercial workplace. But other native bees
are gaining scientific attention at a time when honeybee hives are plagued by
myriad problems that threaten their survival. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><img border=0 width=124 height=93 id="_x0000_i1029"
src="cid:image003.jpg@01CD26B6.B12F8FC0" alt="[SWEATBEE-Ahed]"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=targetcaption><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sweat Bee<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We've
neglected the native bees because the honey bee was so successful," said
entomologist Anne Averill at the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:PlaceName> in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Amherst</st1:place></st1:City> who is conducting a $3.3 million
federal study of native bees in 10 states. They hope to expand the role of
native bees in agriculture. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Not a
single native plant in North or <st1:place w:st="on">South America</st1:place>
actually needs a honeybee to survive, so long as native bees thrive, museum and
university entomologists said. Untended and largely unnoticed, native bees play
a role in pollinating cash crops such as tomatoes, cranberries, alfalfa and
squash. They are more prevalent among farmers' fields than previously believed,
often more effective than honeybees as pollinators and more resistant to the
problems that have decimated honeybees in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
and <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>, several studies show. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Unlike
many honeybees, urban bees in the Northeastern U.S. have adapted to rising
temperatures, which have caused spring—and the first bloom of flowers for
pollination—to arrive about 10 days earlier in recent years, <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Rutgers</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> researchers said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It isn't
easy keeping track of so many bees. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sweat
bees encompass an unusually broad range of behaviors, but often differ from
each other in almost imperceptible ways. All that distinguishes the <st1:place
w:st="on">Gotham</st1:place> sweat bee from its most closely related species is
the pattern of bristles on its abdomen and a few links of DNA. They are so hard
to tell apart that agriculture experts world-wide are hard-pressed to take
stock of them all.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"If
there is a new bee species in <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>,
imagine the situation...somewhere in <st1:place w:st="on">South America</st1:place>,"
said Mr. Ascher. "It is hard to effectively manage pollinators if they
have not been named scientifically."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>At the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">American</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> of Natural History, Mr. Ascher
and his colleagues scramble to keep up with requests to catalog unidentified bee
species. Museum corridors are a honeycomb of bee boxes and specimen drawers
packed with 450,000 preserved bees. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Almost
every day new native bee specimens arrive in the mail. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We
are finding out these things at a fast pace," Mr. Ascher said. "I
just got another box of bees and there was a new species in <st1:place w:st="on">Queens</st1:place>."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Write
to </span></font></b></strong>Robert Lee Hotz at <a
href="mailto:sciencejournal@wsj.com">sciencejournal@wsj.com</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=articleversion><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>A version of this article appeared April 28, 2012, on
page A1 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline:
Urban Buzz: A New Bee That Sips Sweat.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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