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On a cliffside at Mesa Verde National Park in southern Colorado, a fuzzy bee was industriously gnawing at the red sandstone. Making a loud grinding sound, the insect used its powerful jaws to drill tunnels and holes in rocks, where it would build a nest for raising offspring.听

The bee, known as Anthophora pueblo, is a type of digger bee native to Colorado. Discovered less than a decade ago, the bee has quickly become 鈥檚 favorite pollinator.听

鈥淭his is just one example of how crazily diverse our native bees are,鈥� said Carper, an entomologist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder and the 麻豆免费版下载Museum of Natural History.听

But those pollinators are in peril as a result of human activities, according to the on Colorado鈥檚 native pollinating insects published by Carper and his collaborators earlier this month.听

The report summarized research on native pollinators in Colorado and found that in the last 35 years, populations of some pollinator species in the state have dropped by more than half. Scientists and environmentalists are petitioning for about 20% of Colorado鈥檚 24 native bumblebee species to receive federal protection under the Endangered Species Act due to a significant decline in their populations.听

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge alarm call, and that鈥檚 only for species we have good data for,鈥� Carper said, adding that this is likely an underestimate of the danger Colorado鈥檚 native pollinating insects are facing.听

In addition to bees and butterflies, other insects like beetles, flies and even mosquitoes also pollinate鈥攎any of them remain understudied. The report highlighted data from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, where even in a well-protected high-elevation meadow, the number of insects living there has dropped by 61% over the last 35 years.

Native pollinators are critical to Colorado鈥檚 ecosystem, agriculture and tourism industry. 听

For example, the world-famous Rocky Ford cantaloupes, native to the small town in southeastern Colorado, are best pollinated by the state鈥檚 native squash bees. These bees have evolved special hairs to carry the cantaloupe鈥檚 particularly large pollen grains. In contrast, honeybees lack these special hairs and are inefficient at pollinating cantaloupe flowers.

鈥淥ur native bees have co-evolved with our native plants. We recreate in our beautiful high alpine mountains, because they are covered in colorful wildflowers, which wouldn鈥檛 be there if they didn't have our native pollinators to help them reproduce. Additionally, those native plants are integral to our rangelands, supporting over $5 billion worth of livestock across the state,鈥� Carper said.