‘Lucifer’: New bee species discovered in Western Australia
A new native Australian bee species has been discovered and has a famously sinister new name to back up its gothic appearance – but why does this horned creature need a heap of human love?
READING LEVEL: GREEN
A new bee, discovered in Western Australia, has been announced this week – reinforcing Australia’s status as home of the creepiest crawlies.
The Lucifer bee is a “leaf cutter” bee, with distinctive horns on its head, which helped Dr Kit Prendergast, who discovered the species, land on the memorable name.
Dr Prendergast was on a surveying trip in the Bremer Ranges, part of the goldfields region of Western Australia, when she came across the bee.
She was conducting surveys for pollinators* of a critically endangered* plant, the Bremer marianthus, when she spotted it. Later DNA* barcoding and comparison with museum specimens revealed the species was new to collectors.
It also revealed another specimen found at the site was the mate of the horned bee, but did not have the same horns. It’s thought that the horns likely assist with accessing food and defending against competitors and enemies, but it’s not known why only the female species had them, not the male.
“It’s the first new member of this bee group to be described in more than 20 years, which really shows how much life we still have to discover – including in areas that are at risk of mining, such as the goldfields,” Dr Prendergast said.
But the Lucifer could “be at risk from habitat* disturbance and other threatening processes like climate change,” she told The Sun. “Many mining companies still don’t survey for native bees.”
Those knowledge gaps mean we could be missing important species that play a role in supporting local ecosystems.
“Without knowing which native bees exist and what plants they depend on, we risk losing both before we even realise they’re there,” Dr Prendergast said.
According to the CSIRO, Australia currently has around 2000 native bee species, with more than 300 yet to be scientifically named and described.
Fellow bee researcher Dr Tobias Smith has previously said Australia’s native bees are “understudied and data poor”, which means we don’t fully understand their conservation status.
Dr Prendergast echoed this sentiment in an article published earlier this month in The Conversation, in which she said far more attention had been given to the European honey bee.
“Currently, there is no requirement to survey for native bees in areas about to be mined, farmed or developed,” she wrote.
“Even if they are found, any species that has not been officially identified has no conservation standing, which is one reason why taxonomic* research is so important.”
WHY BEES ARE SIMPLY THE BEST
We all know that the honey bee is named for its primary industry – reason enough to love these buzzing beauties – and it is likely this variety that has made the bee one of the most recognised insects in the world.
“Bees are one of the few insects that strike empathy with the public,” said Museums Victoria Research Institute senior curator of entomology* Dr Ken Walker. “Most people know from a honey bee that a bee is good, that it has value.”
But while the European honey bee is undoubtedly iconic, it’s also an introduced species, and a bit of an attention hog.
Those 2000 or so Australian native bee species continue to go unnoticed – and we really should all be far more alert to the threats they face.
According to Museums Victoria, our bees were originally isolated from the rest of the planet when Australia separated from Gondwana* about 100 million years ago.
“Native bees began developing around about 60 million years ago,’ said Dr Walker. “They co-evolved with the Myrtaceous plant family – gum trees and tea trees.”
Today, the threat to bees comes mainly from humans, with urbanisation, agriculture and pesticides all impacting bee populations around the globe. That is bad news, because while the insects may be small, they are mighty.
“Insects are the mainstay of almost all ecosystems* in the world,” said Dr Walker. “If you remove the insects, then suddenly everything above it will collapse.”
Dr Walker singled out pesticides known as “neonics” as one of the single biggest risks to bees. Once sprayed on a plant, neonics are absorbed into every part of it.
“Any insect that eats part of the plant gets affected by it,” Dr Walker said.
If a bee eats the pollen from one of these plants, it also ingests a neurotoxin* that permanently binds to and destroys its nerve cells. Neonic pesticides were banned by the European Union in 2018, but despite growing public pressure, they are currently still used in Australia.
DO BETTER BY BEES
If you’re wondering how to help, Dr Walker suggested planting native flora*, and building “bee hotels” to provide safe spaces for native bees to nest.
“Most bee hotels are where you drill holes in wood or bamboo shoots,” he said.
Such a simple thing can make a big difference to these thousands of bees, whose natural habitats are increasingly under threat.
Keep an eye out for them in your own backyard – your Kids News editor installed a bee house in her own yard after noticing a visitor one day: a stunning fire-tailed resin bee.
“It was the most beautiful bee,” she said. “My kids and I were so fascinated by its movements and watching it build its nest in the cute little wooden house we had hung off the side of the garage. Watching it fly away and return each day brought me so much happiness and hope.”
Bees are among our most important pollinators, making them a crucial part of maintaining our food supply. The better we look after our bees, the better they will be able to keep looking after us.
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POLL
GLOSSARY
- pollinators: insects and other creatures that carry pollen from one plant or part of a plant to another, a transfer that enables fertilisation that then produces seeds and fruit
- critically endangered: a species that faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild
- DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid, the chemical present at the centre of the cells of living things and carries their genetic information
- habitat: the natural environment in which an animal or plant usually lives
- Gondwana: a Mesozoic-era supercontinent, this landmass located in the Southern Hemisphere once included what are now South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica
- taxonomic: related to taxonomy, the scientific process of naming and classifying things such as animals and plants into groups within a larger system
- ecosystems: all the plants and animals that live in particular areas together and the complex relationships that exist between them
- neurotoxin: substance poisonous to nerve tissue
- flora: all the plant life of a given place or time
- entomology: branch of zoology involving the study of insects
EXTRA READING
Bees’ survival creates major buzz
Scientist names new native bee after pet dog
QUICK QUIZ
- What is a “neonic” and why are neonics such a threat to bees?
- What particular bee species paid the Kids News editor a visit at her home?
- Approximately how long ago did Australia separate from Gondwana?
- How many years ago did our native bee species begin developing?
- Australia is estimated to have how many native bee species?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. How does it work?
Can you think of a better name for the Lucifer bee? Choose a name and write sentences that will convince Dr Kit Pendergast to change it.
Time: allow at least 45 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Some people are very scared of bees, especially bees like the Lucifer bee, and think that they are just a real pest. Create a poster or infographic that will help them to understand how amazing and important they are. Use information from the story to help you.
Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science
VCOP ACTIVITY
I spy nouns
Nouns are places, names (of people and objects), and time (months or days of the week).
How many nouns can you find in the article?
Can you sort them into places, names and time?
Pick three nouns and add an adjective (describing word) to the nouns.