Overview
- The species, Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer, was formally described by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.
- Specimens were first collected in 2019 in Western Australia’s Goldfields region while the bees visited the endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
- DNA analysis confirmed the bees did not match known species, marking the first newly described member of this subgroup in more than two decades.
- Only females bear small horn-like protuberances on the head, and the function of these structures is currently unknown.
- The name, inspired by the Netflix series Lucifer, is being used to raise public awareness about protecting native pollinators that could be lost to habitat change and mining.