More bees please: 8 new-to-Washington species identifiedKiyomi Taguchi UW NewsBee experts wouldn’t have previously expected to find the likes of Osmia cyaneonitens, Dufourea dilatipes and Stelis heronae in Washington. But this year, researchers added eight new bee species to a list of the state’s native pollinators. It’s difficult to conserve a species when we don’t know its name or native range.”Taxonomists refer to detailed sets of characteristics to differentiate bees by family, genera and species. If you are interested in bees, Maust said, the Washington Bee Atlas trains volunteers to find, collect, and identify native bees. Depicted below are a few of the new-to-Washington bees Maust observed and the characteristics scientists focused on for classification.