California is one of only two states in the U.S. without a designated state insect or bee, despite having the California dogface butterfly as its official state insect. While 48 states have named an official insect, and several have chosen specific species for categories such as state butterfly, California has yet to select a state bee.
Many states have selected the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) as their state insect or agricultural insect. Minnesota is unique in naming a state bee—the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis), which is endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and has seen populations decline by nearly 90 percent over the past twenty years.
Efforts are now underway in California to identify a suitable native bee species for this designation. The California Native Bee Society (CNBS) is currently gathering input on potential candidates. Jess Mullins, president of CNBS, reached out to UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Gordon Frankie for his recommendations and those of his colleagues.
“I’m writing to see if you have any suggestions for a California State Bee?” Mullins wrote. “We plan to prepare a list of bees and profile biological information about each species and provide support for why it should be chosen. Then, we will have people rank vote. Are there any species you think should be on that list?”
Frankie suggested three possible candidates: Anthophora urbana, Agapostemon texanus, and Bombus vosnesenskii.
UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey also weighed in on the discussion. “Bombus californicus would be a good pick. It’s found in California obviously and is considered threatened right now. Plus a bumble bee would be a good pick because the public generally recognizes them as bees and not flies or something they don’t like.”
Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, supported Frankie’s suggestions as well. “I also like Anthophora urbana as this would be a nice opportunity to highlight a widespread solitary bee or B. vosnesenskii would also be a good choice if we want more people to be able to (more?) easily find an example of the state bee.”
Suggestions from the public can be sent via email to Jess Mullins at president@calnbs.org. The mission of CALNBS is “to protect California’s native bees by fostering sustainable stewardship through research, education and conservation,” according to its website at https://calnbs.org/.
The website features recorded presentations from scientists who study bees, including Corey Andrikopoulos on stingless bees in Palo Alto; Ian Wright on photographing native bees; Nina Sokolov discussing artistic approaches in bee disease ecology; Krystle Hickman on conservation photography; and Felicity Muth addressing cognition in wild bumble bees.
Several speakers have connections with UC Davis—Andrikopoulos worked there as a researcher; Muth is faculty; Wright is an alumnus; and Hickman currently exhibits her macro images of native bees at the Bohart Museum of Entomology display at UC Davis’ Academic Surge Building.
CALNBS holds monthly meetings via Zoom on the second Tuesday each month at 6:30 p.m., with Leif Richardson from the Xerces Society scheduled as an upcoming speaker on March 10.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), affiliated with the University of California, plays an active role statewide by sharing science-based practices through research centers and outreach initiatives across all 58 counties (official website). Glenda Humiston serves as vice president (official website). UC ANR’s work includes supporting communities with expertise in farming, environmental conservation, wildfire protection, nutrition education, food networks, youth programs, and maintaining nine Research and Extension Centers throughout diverse ecosystems (official website).
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