WALLACE’S GIANT BEE

MEGA CHILE PLUTO

As the name suggests, this is the largest bee in the world. Females are larger than males, with a body length of 39mm and a wingspan of 63mm, and are armed with a formidable pair of jaws. These aren’t weapons, however, but tools to collect tree resin and wood fibres that are mixed into a paste to line their communal nests burrows, which they excavate in arboreal termite mounds. Wallace discovered this species on Bacan Island in 1859, but it was thought to be extinct until rediscovered in 1981.