As if lethal snakes, spiders and sharks weren’t sufficient, Australia now has a brand new creepy critter: a “lucifer” bee with devil-like horns.
The species, dubbed Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer, was discovered within the state of Western Australia, Curtin College introduced on Tuesday.
Package Prendergast on the college’s College of Molecular and Life Sciences found the bee whereas surveying a critically endangered wildflower in 2019 and was instantly drawn to the insect’s distinctive look.
“The female had these incredible little horns on her face,” she mentioned.
A fan of the Netflix TV present “Lucifer,” she mentioned the identify was the right match for the bee’s distinctively devilish look.
The bee species, dubbed Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer, was discovered within the state of Western Australia, Curtin College mentioned.
Curtin College College of Molecular and Life Sciences
Prendergast mentioned DNA barcoding confirmed the brand new species didn’t match any recognized bees in DNA databases. She additionally mentioned the specimens she retrieved didn’t match any in museum collections.
“It’s the first new member of this bee group to be described in more than 20 years, which really shows how much life we still have to discover,” Prendergast mentioned.
She added that she hopes the invention will increase consciousness concerning the variety of undiscovered species that might nonetheless be on the market, particularly in areas threatened local weather change and mining.
“Many mining companies still don’t survey for native bees, so we may be missing undescribed species, including those that play crucial roles in supporting threatened plants and ecosystems,” she mentioned.
“Without knowing which native bees exist and what plants they depend on, we risk losing both before we even realize they’re there.”
Virtually all flowering vegetation rely upon wild pollinators, notably bees, however habitat loss and local weather change are driving many very important species to the brink of extinction.
Curtin College famous the publication of the analysis coincides with Australian Pollinator Week, which highlights the essential position bees in sustaining wholesome ecosystems.
The brand new analysis was printed within the Journal of Hymenoptera Analysis.
