Bees Outnumber Mammals and Birds

Hat tip to Bug Girl who pointed out a press release on Science Daily describing a bee inventory project by researchers at the American Museum of Natural History.

"Scientists have discovered that there are more bee species than previously thought. In the first global accounting of bee species in over a hundred years, John S. Ascher, a research scientist in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, compiled online species pages and distribution maps for more than 19,200 described bee species, showcasing the diversity of these essential pollinators. This new species inventory documents 2,000 more described, valid species than estimated by Charles Michener in the first edition of his definitive The Bees of the World published eight years ago."

Click the link above to read more! Just another reason why inverts rule and verts drool. Photo from Cid*'s Flickr Photostream.