He passed the bee to Jason Gibbs, who identified it as a new species in 2011 with the help of DNA testing.

[5] At the same time, Gibbs identified ten other new sweat bee species using AMNH's collections.

[6] His research, which was published in Zootaxa in October 2011, also reclassified 97 other species of Lasioglossum (Dialictus).

[3] Gibbs commented, "This little bee has been quietly living in the city, pollinating flowers in people’s gardens for years.

"[6] Unlike many honeybees, urban bees in the Northeastern U.S. have adapted to rising temperatures, which have caused spring—and the first bloom of flowers for pollination—to arrive about 10 days earlier in recent years, Rutgers University researchers said.