*2.1.5 Discussion and results*

Diagnostic Radioentomology permitted the comprehensive examination of this ancient specimen, where other methods were (in the case of light microscopy) and would be (in the case of SEM or TEM) found to be less reliable or unsuitable because of their limitations and/or destructive nature. The bee's anatomical characteristics were accurately assessed and precise morphometric measurements were performed with on-screen linear measuring callipers. As a result, details of a previously undescribed species, *P. abdita* Greco and Engel were described [44]. This experiment demonstrated that all three apparatuses were appropriate for accurately visualising the bee. Thus, entomologists can consider which facility would provide the best option for them. In addition to the application of DR to this particular bee, its more extensive use on historical type material (e.g. the holotype of *P. dominicana*, other amber preserved bees or even unique specimens of rare modern species) will permit a more complete characterisation of these bees and comprehensive comparisons between them and their modern counterparts. Improved anatomical understanding of these bees will greatly enhance phylogenetic reconstructions utilising paleontological data and potentially revise our paleoecological perspectives of early pollinators. It is hoped that by highlighting the utility of DR for characterising an ancient social bee that these techniques might be more broadly applied to social bee biology and anatomy, much in the tradition of [37] earlier applications of novel imaging methods and in the way it has been applied to the study of termites and living stingless bees [10, 13], as well as solitary bee species [11, 21].
