SA team discovers narrow-headed bees

Why the long face, little bee?

Three new bee species with unusually narrow heads and long mouths have been discovered by South Australian researchers.

The University of Adelaide's lead researcher Dr Katja Hogendoorn says the bees' skinny heads allow them to feed on the flowers of emu bushes.

"The way they have adapted to be able to feed on those flowers is a great example of co-evolution," she said, referring to the way the bees and flowers have likely evolved together.

Dr Hogendoorn said the emu bush flowers have a narrow section at the bottom, probably to keep out other animals that would like to take the nectar but don't help it pollinate.

"The bees need really narrow heads and long mouths to reach the nectar," she said.

A fourth new species with a normal round head was also discovered by the research team during their expeditions in Western Australia and SA in 2010.

Dr Hogendoorn said only about two-thirds of native Australian bee species are known to science, despite their important role in pollinating native plants and agricultural crops.

"With about 750 Australia bee species still undescribed, there is an enormous job still to do."