New Australian Bee Species Megachile lucifer Discovered

Scientists in Australia have discovered a new species of native bee, named Megachile lucifer for the tiny, upward-pointing horns on the females' faces that give them a devilish appearance. The bee was identified during surveys in Western Australia's Goldfields region in 2019, marking the first new member of its genus described in more than two decades.

The discovery occurred while researchers examined a critically endangered wildflower, Marianthus aquilonaris, which grows only in the Bremer Range area between the towns of Norseman and Hyden. Kit Prendergast, an adjunct research fellow at Curtin University and lead author of the study published Monday in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, collected the specimen during these surveys. The bee was observed visiting both the wildflower and nearby mallee trees. DNA analysis confirmed it did not match any known species in databases or museum collections, distinguishing it as a novel addition to the leafcutter bee family, Megachilidae.

Prendergast drew inspiration for the name from the horns, each about 0.9 millimeters long, and her viewing of the Netflix series "Lucifer" at the time. "The female had these incredible little horns on...