SYDNEY: As if deadly snakes, spiders and sharks weren’t enough, Australia now has another disturbing creature: a ‘matchstick’ bee with devil-like horns.
Curtin University said on Tuesday the species, called Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer, had been identified in Western Australia.
Kit Prendergast from the university’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences found the bee in 2019 while surveying a critically endangered wildflower and was immediately struck by its distinctive appearance.
“The female had incredible little horns on her face,” she said.
A fan of the Netflix TV show ‘Lucifer’, she said the name fit perfectly with the bee’s distinctive devilish appearance.
“It’s the first new member of this bee group to be described in more than two decades, which really shows how much life we still have to discover,” Prendergast said.
She added that she hopes the discovery will raise awareness of how many undiscovered species could still be out there, especially in areas threatened by mining.
“Many mining companies are still not conducting research on native bees, so we may be missing undescribed species, including species that play a critical role in supporting endangered plants and ecosystems,” she said.
“Without knowing which native bees exist and which plants they depend on, we risk losing both before we even realize they are there.”
Nearly all flowering plants depend on wild pollinators, especially bees, but habitat loss and climate change are pushing many vital species to the brink of extinction.
