In 2019, researcher Kit Prendergast was surveying the insects visiting an incredibly rare plant in the Bremer Ranges of Western Australia when a bee grabbed her attention.<\/p>\n
Prendergast and her colleague dug deeper and found that the native bee, now named Megachile lucifer, is a new-to-science species, according to a recent study. The species name refers to the female\u2019s large, devil-like horns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe female had these incredible little horns on her face,\u201d Prendergast, the study\u2019s lead author from Curtin University, Australia, said in a statement. \u201cWhen writing up the new species description I was watching the Netflix show Lucifer at the time, and the name just fit perfectly. I am also a huge fan of the Netflix character Lucifer so it was a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prendergast collected specimens from among bees that were visiting flowers of both the critically endangered plant Marianthus aquilonaris and the more common wandoo mallee (Eucalyptus livida). Both plants are found only in Western Australia state.<\/p>\n
She compared the specimens with similar bees in museum collections and didn\u2019t find a match. A DNA barcoding test also didn\u2019t turn up a match with any known species in existing bee genetic databases, confirming the species was new to science.<\/p>\n
One of the collected specimens turned out to be a male M. lucifer. Unlike the female, it didn\u2019t have any horns. \u201cThis is the opposite of the situation in much of the animal kingdom, where the males are more likely to be armoured,\u201d Prendergast writes in The Conversation.<\/p>\n
The description of M. lucifer is particularly important for conservation, the study notes, because for many critically endangered plants in Australia, their pollinators remain unknown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn subsequent years of surveying this site, the mallee was not flowering, Megachile lucifer was not seen, and far fewer insects were recorded,\u201d Prendergast writes in The Conversation. \u201cWith no monitoring of native bees, we also don\u2019t know how their populations are faring in response to threatening processes, like climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Furthermore, M. lucifer is currently only known from the Bremer Ranges, which is at risk from threats like gold mining, wildfires and climate change. The researchers didn\u2019t find additional specimens in museum collections, nor did Prendergast come across the species in surveys she conducted in other parts of Western Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing associated with the Critically Endangered Marianthus aquilonaris, the area in and around where these species occur should be formally protected and gazetted as conservation land that cannot be cleared,\u201d the study recommends. \u201cFurther surveys in the surrounding region during November should be undertaken, and if M. lucifer occurs, these areas likewise should not be cleared (e.g. for haul roads to access mining).\u201d<\/p>\n