An expedition discovered a monstrous giant bee that we thought was extinct

A mission

scientist

The organization-led organization, Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC), has discovered in Indonesia a living specimen of
Megachile pluto, also known as "Wallace's giant bee", a large insect that is thought to have been extinct since 1981, the year the last specimen was seen.

The reappearance of this species, which is four times larger than common bees (more than four centimeters) and has a huge jaw similar to that of beetles, took place in January in the Maluku Islands. "It's the holy grail of bees," said Robin Moore, biologist and director of communications at GWC,
Mashable.

The females of this species, like the one saved by this mission, are the largest bees on the planet. Their detection is difficult because they build their nests with tree resin inside mounds of termites hanging from trees. The review of each takes about 20 minutes and took them five days to find that conclusion.

This event occurs in the middle of
alarming news about the decline of bees and other insects. As the population of Wallace bees (named after the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who discovered them in 1858) is unknown, the team will return to the site in the coming months to try to unravel the mystery.