Perdita meconis Genome sequencing and assembly
The Mojave poppy bee, Perdtia meconis (Hymenoptera: Anthophila: Andrenidae) is a bee species of conservation concern that is restricted to desert environments in southern California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. It is a specialist pollinator of poppy plants and is being considered for listing under the US Endangered Species Act along with one of its host plants, the Mojave bear poppy Arctomecon californica. Here we present the first draft genome of the Mojave poppy bee in an effort to provide a genomic resource that will aid conservation efforts and future research. We also highlight how high-quality genome data can be generated from small, improperly preserved specimens using the latest PacBio sequencing instrument and reagents and discuss how this finding opens the door to biodiversity genomics. This genome represents the first genome of any bee in the family Andrenidae and one of only a few genomes of pollinator specialist bees. We compare the genome of Perdita meconis with other available bee genomes and describe the major similarities and differences.