Kenya: New Bee Species Found in Turkana

A new species of bee has been discovered in Turkana County. The discovery was made by Dr Dino J. Martins, a Kenyan scientist, naturalist and explorer. The bee was found in the South Turkwel region at the Turkana Basin Institute, which was established by Dr Richard Leakey. The bee has been given the scientific name Samba Turkana, in honour of the region, its peoples and biodiversity, Dr Martins said. Dr Martins found the bee while sampling bees that pollinate legumes in the region. The scientist, who studies the links between biodiversity and human life and livelihoods, is arguably East Africa's leading entomologist. He is also head of the insect committee at Nature Kenya and academic field director of Turkana Basin Institute at Stony Brook University. Dr Martins and Prof Laurence Packer of York University have formally described the bee in the scientific journal ZooTaxa. "Turkana is one of earth's unexplored hotspots of bee diversity. Bees are more diverse in hot, dry areas as they do well in these conditions," Nature Kenya -READ MORE-http://allafrica.com/stories/201502200635.html