World's largest bee spotted the first time since 1981; was presumed extinct

A team of researchers spotted the world's giant bee which is as big as a human thumb, in Indonesia for the first time since 1981, the media reported on Friday.

The team -- natural history photographer Clay Bolt, entomologist Eli Wyman, behavioural ecologist Simon Robson and ornithologist Glenn Chilton -- made the stunning "rediscovery" of the elusive critter and took the first photos and video of a living Wallace's giant bee on January 25, CNN reported.
The team has spent years studying the bee and slogged around in humid Indonesia forests for days before stumbling upon one.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies this species as "vulnerable" due to mining and quarrying.
Only two other people have been documented to have seen the Wallace Bee in person before. The first was British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who discovered the giant bee in 1858 while exploring the tropical Indonesian island of Bacan, and entomologist Adam Messer who became the second in 1981. Read More

Article Source -> Business Standard