Project Number: 5428-21000-013-14
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 01, 2007
End Date: Aug 31, 2012

Objective:
Develop web-based interactive keys to bee species for bee genera occurring in the United States. Generation of user-friendly guides for bee identification will make pollination studies accessible to researchers, educators, and amateurs alike. Utilize keys to identify large bee samples resulting from ongoing bee faunal studies.

Approach:
For each bee genus, determine the morphological character set that will uniquely identify all species in the genus. Include redundant characters to make determinations more robust. Illustrate characters to ensure accurate recognition of key characters. Add distributional information as a further filter. Enter these species/character matrices into web-based interactive keys. Test and refine keys using accurately identified specimens.