''Hylaeus facilis'' is a species of

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

, also known by the common name easy yellow-faced bee. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and known from only two populations. In September 2016, along with six other Hawaiian ''Hylaeus'' species, ''H. facilis'' was listed for protection under the United States

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

. This marked a first listing for any bee species in the US.

Description

''Hylaeus facilis'' is of medium size with smoky wings. Males have a large lower facial oval yellow spot with a yellow stripe near the eyes whereas females are completely black.

Distribution and habitat

''Hylaeus facilis'' is now known only, in two populations of unknown size, from a coastal habitat on

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

and a lowland wet forest on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

. Threats to the species include habitat degradation by nonnative animals and plants, predation by nonnative insects, fires and climate change.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4395168 Colletidae Insects of Hawaii Endemic fauna of Hawaii Endangered fauna of Hawaii Hymenoptera of Oceania Insects described in 1879 ESA endangered species