Detection of the Hylaeus genus as pollinators in high UV conditions

At the local level, biodiversity forms complex networks of interacting species, supporting essential ecosystem processes crucial for human societies. These links among interacting species are often ignored in the context of global change even though they will disappear from local communities as a precursor to local (and ultimately global) extinctions. These include both beneficial (e.g. pollination, seed dispersal networks) and antagonistic (e.g. food webs, host–parasitoid networks) interactions, which could respond differently to disturbances. One increasingly popular and rapidly developing method for evaluating species interactions is DNA metabarcoding from environmental samples (environmental DNA; eDNA). This study helps to lay a baseline for the utility of eDNA metabarcoding for conservation efforts in Hawaii, with a focus on the endemic Hawaiian yellow-faced bees, Genus Hylaeus (Family Fringillidae). We tested the effectiveness of two universal primers that amplify the Cytochrome oxidase I locus for arthropods. We conducted a controlled experiment using mesh bags and repeated flower washes to determine the reliability of eDNA to detect the presence of Hyleaus and non-native pollinators in high UV conditions of Hawaii. We detected the two species, H. anthracinus and H. difficilis, known to co-occur in association with Heliotropium arborescens flowers. This application of eDNA is a vital tool for conservation as the loss of pollinators, including the Hawaiian honeycreeper birds (Family Drepanididae), has a direct impact on native and endangered plants, and leads to further extinction, which is already occurring at an alarming rate in Hawaii.