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Wallace's Giant Bee

rare

Wallace's Giant Bee

Megachile pluto

Habitat
Lowland rainforest of Indonesia's North Moluccas, nesting inside active tree-termite mounds
Body length
38 mm
Order
Hymenoptera · Megachilidae

Weird but real

The world's largest bee builds its nest inside living termite mounds, using giant jaws to gather resin as mortar.

Why it's cool

A bee four times a honeybee's size, presumed extinct for decades then rediscovered alive in 2019 — a giant hiding in plain sight.

Photographs

Megachile pluto (adult, dorsal view) : Preserved specimen number RMNH.INS.108876 from Naturalis Biodiversity Center - Zoology and Geology catalogues (nl) collected in Kampong Pasir Putih Halmahera on 1991-02-28 by Desmier de Chenon, R.
Naturalis Biodiversity Center · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Megachile pluto Smith, 1861 : dorsal habitus of a preserved specimen collected in June 20th 2008, in Pulau Obi, south coast Tapaya (Molluca Island, Indonesia) - number collection LACM ENT 463926.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County · CC BY 4.0 · source