Bees: Discovery of an insect with “devilish” horns, which a scientist called “Lucifer”

Australian scientists have discovered a new native species of bee with tiny horns, and they’ve given it a devilish name.

And the researchers found Megashell Lucifer They noticed a rare wildflower growing only in the Bremer Mountains in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, 470 kilometers east of Perth.

The horns – which are considered “very prominent” – appear only on females and can serve as a defense mechanism to collect pollen or nectar, or to collect materials such as resin to build nests.

The researcher who led the study said she was inspired by the name devil Because I was watching the Netflix series of the same name at the time. She added that this is the first new member of this group of bees in 20 years.

“The female had these amazing little horns on her face,” says Kit Prendergast, from Curtin University.