''Megachile pluto'', also known as Wallace's giant bee or (), is a large resin bee found in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. With a wingspan of , it is the largest known living bee species. It was believed to be extinct until several specimens were discovered in 1981. No further sightings were confirmed until two specimens were collected and sold on

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

in 2018. A live female was found and filmed for the first time in 2019.

Description

Wallace's giant bee is a black resin bee with well-developed, large jaws. The species exhibits strong

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

; females may reach a length of , with a wingspan of , but males only grow to about long. Only females have large jaws. ''M. pluto'' is believed to be the largest living bee species, and remains the largest extant bee species described. It is "as long as an adult's thumb". Wallace's giant bee is easily distinguished from other bees due to its large size and jaws, but also a notable white band on the abdomen.

Distribution and habitat

The reports of Wallace's giant bee's existence come only from three islands of the North Moluccas in Indonesia: Bacan,

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

, and Tidore. Very little is known about its distribution and habitat requirements, although it is thought to be restricted to primary lowland forests. The islands have become home to

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...

plantations that now occupy much of the former native habitat. This has caused the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

to label this species as vulnerable.

Discovery and rediscovery

The species was originally collected by

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 pap ...

in 1858, and given the common name "Wallace's giant bee"; it is also known as the "giant mason bee". It was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1981 by Adam C. Messer, an American

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, who found six nests on the island of Bacan and other nearby islands. The bee is among the 25 "most wanted" lost species that are the focus of Global Wildlife Conservation's "Search for Lost Species" initiative. The bee had not been spotted for over 27 years. In 2018, two specimens were collected by local sellers in Indonesia, one on Bacan in February and the other on Halmahera in September. They were subsequently sold on eBay, highlighting the lack of protection that is afforded to the rare species. In 2019, a single female having established its nest in an arboreal termite colony on the island of Halmahera in Indonesia was found by local naturalist Iswan Maujud as part of a field expedition co-led by Clay Bolt and Eli Wyman. This specimen was filmed and photographed before being released.

Ecology

Wallace's giant bees build communal nests inside active nests of the tree-dwelling termite '' Microcerotermes amboinensis'', which may serve to hide their existence from attackers. The bee uses tree resin to build compartments inside the termite nest, which protects its galleries. Female bees repeatedly leave their nests to forage for resin, frequently gathered from '' Anisoptera thurifera''. The bee's large jaws assist in resin gathering; the female makes large balls of resin, which are held between the jaws. The association of the bee with the termite may be

obligate {{wiktionary, obligate As an adjective, obligate means "by necessity" (antonym '' facultative'') and is used mainly in biology in phrases such as: * Obligate aerobe, an organism that cannot survive without oxygen * Obligate anaerobe, an organism ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q134348

pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...