A CREEPY-crawly with devil horns is the latest horrifying creature to be discovered in Australia, so terrifying it’s named after Lucifer himself.
The devilishly distinctive native bee species, named Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer, was discovered in Western Australia’s goldfields, a creepy critter hotspot.
Revealing the new species on Tuesday, Curtin University announced the moniker Lucifer was a playful nod to the female bees’ “highly distinctive, prominent horns”,
Dr Kit Prendergast, at the university’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, discovered the bee in 2019 while surveying critically endangered wildflowers.
She was coincidentally watching the popular Netflix TV show Lucifer, at the time.
“The name just fit perfectly,” she said.
“I am also a huge fan of the Netflix character Lucifer so it was a no-brainer.”
The tiny devil-like horns protruding from the female’s faces are just 0.9mm in length.
Researchers believe the horns may assist with accessing food from flowers and defending competitors and natural enemies.
Dr Prendergast said: “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.”
The discovery highlights the importance of understanding native bees before their habitats are disturbed.
She explained: “Because the new species was found in the same small area as the endangered wildflower, both could be at risk from habitat disturbance and other threatening processes like climate change.
“Many mining companies still don’t survey for native bees, so we may be missing undescribed species, including those that play crucial roles in supporting threatened plants and ecosystems.
“Without knowing which native bees exist and what plants they depend on, we risk losing both before we even realise they’re there.”
The publication of the research coincides with Australian Pollinator Week, an annual celebration of the crucial role bees, butterflies and other insects play in maintaining healthy ecosystems and food production.
The country’s native bees are “understudied and data poor,” Tobias Smith, a bee researcher at the University of Queensland, told NBC News.
“Stronger policies” are needed by Australian authorities to protect native bees from habitat loss, said Smith.
In August, another horrifying insect was discovered in Australia.
The ‘heaviest ever insect’, measuring 16 inches and weighing 44g, was found in a remote Australian rainforest.
The super-sized stick insect was caught on camera by researchers, who needed two hands to hold the beastly bug.
The new species, named Acrophylla alta, is roughly the same size as a barn owl.
Angus Emmott of James Cook University, who helped identify the species, said the creature’s large size could be an evolutionary response to its cool, wet habitat.
While females have wings, they are not strong flyers because of their “heavy bodies”, according to Professor Emmott.
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The discovering trumped Australia’s previous heaviest insect title-holder- a giant wood moth.
The stick insect was found in high-altitude trees in the mountainous Wet Tropics region of North Queensland.
