The world’s largest bee – a giant insect as the size of a human thumb has been rediscovered after 40 years in Indonesia on Thursday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species lists the bee as “vulnerable”, while its numbers are relatively solid, the remoteness of its population makes it hard to study.
Clay Bolt, a specialist bee photographer who snapped the enormous insect said, “To actually see how beautiful and big the species is in life, to hear the sound of its giant wings... was just incredible”.
Indonesia is rich in biodiversity, it has diverse flora and fauna but some species of animals face the fear of extinction owing to the rapid deforestation in forests.
The bee with the scientific name, Megachile Pluto, lives in Indonesian island of North Moluccas makes its nest in termite mounds through its fang-like mandibles to collect sticky resin.
"I hope this rediscovery will spark future research that will give us a deeper understanding of the life history of this very unique bee and inform any future efforts to protect it from extinction," said Eli Wyman of Princeton University who had went along Bolt on the trip.
