Megachile pluto is Rotu ofu, (once and still) Queen of the bees
February 21, 2019 2:26 PM Subscribe
In the 1850s, Alfred Russel Wallace (Wikipedia), a tall, skinny, reserved young explorer, went traipsing through tropical forests in the Malay Archipelago (Wiki), collecting specimens to be sold back in England. One of them was a specimen a local brought to him, “a large black wasp-like insect, with immense jaws like a stag-beetle,” (The Malay Archipelago, 1890 edition via Archive.org), and it was the largest bee known in the world. Megachile pluto (Wiki) was presumed extinct into the early 1980s, when it was re-discovered (abstract), only to disappear from sight again. Clay Bolt, Natural History and Conservation Photographer, wrote about rediscovering Wallace’s Giant Bee for Global Wildlife.org, and he shared a video of a specimen in action with Wired.
A few years ago, when Megachile pluto was "first" recently rediscovered, the two collected specimens appeared on an international online auction site, and fetched several thousands of US$ each to private collectors. Wallace’s Giant Bee for sale: implications for trade regulation and conservation (Journal of Insect Conservation; abstract only).
Though Megachile pluto is notable for its size, it is part of the very old genus Megachile, as seen in identifications of similarity in general morphology at pupal stage between a fossilized pupae from the La Brea Tar Pits and a modern leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata). "Leafcutter Bee Nests and Pupae from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits of Southern California: Implications for Understanding the Paleoenvironment of the Late Pleistocene" (PLOS|One, open access article).
Bonus fact: the Mr. F. Smith who named the Megachile pluto is Frederick Smith, a British entomologist who worked at the zoology department of the British Museum from 1849, specialising in the Hymenoptera, which are a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. (Wikipedia x 2)
Final link: NPR with a bit more context and more linked resources and information.
A few years ago, when Megachile pluto was "first" recently rediscovered, the two collected specimens appeared on an international online auction site, and fetched several thousands of US$ each to private collectors. Wallace’s Giant Bee for sale: implications for trade regulation and conservation (Journal of Insect Conservation; abstract only).
Though Megachile pluto is notable for its size, it is part of the very old genus Megachile, as seen in identifications of similarity in general morphology at pupal stage between a fossilized pupae from the La Brea Tar Pits and a modern leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata). "Leafcutter Bee Nests and Pupae from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits of Southern California: Implications for Understanding the Paleoenvironment of the Late Pleistocene" (PLOS|One, open access article).
Bonus fact: the Mr. F. Smith who named the Megachile pluto is Frederick Smith, a British entomologist who worked at the zoology department of the British Museum from 1849, specialising in the Hymenoptera, which are a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. (Wikipedia x 2)
Final link: NPR with a bit more context and more linked resources and information.
On days like today, I wish I could take a vacation with filthy light thief.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:53 PM on February 21, 2019
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:53 PM on February 21, 2019
ohhhhh I want to find out what its honey tastes like. My eldest just got back with two jars of wild jungle honey, from Apis Dorsata most likely from the pictures of the disc-nests, the giant honey bee which is a mere 20mm at full size compared to that enormous 38mm whopper! On a walk recently after a storm, one of their nests had been knocked out of a tree and fallen down, all the honey oozed out into the ground and just the comb left like a giant coral washed up on the leaves, over a metre wide and delicately fringed but less than 2" thick.
The 18th and 19th century bee hunters were nuts, not that the modern day ones aren't similarly obsessive. They never managed to get the Apis Dorsata to survive commercially in outside of Asia, and I suppose it's fortunate that they didn't get the Megachile Pluto over for you.
It looks a little like a meaner cousin of a Carpenter Bee. Like a Carpenter Bee that got fed up with being called cute and shaved off its fuzz and took up nunchucks.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:13 PM on February 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
The 18th and 19th century bee hunters were nuts, not that the modern day ones aren't similarly obsessive. They never managed to get the Apis Dorsata to survive commercially in outside of Asia, and I suppose it's fortunate that they didn't get the Megachile Pluto over for you.
It looks a little like a meaner cousin of a Carpenter Bee. Like a Carpenter Bee that got fed up with being called cute and shaved off its fuzz and took up nunchucks.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:13 PM on February 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
Don't spend too much time looking for their honey, because they don't make much, if any (unclear to me and my quick research). Unlike honey bees, Megachilidae are solitary bees, who don't produce large stores of honey or have masses of brood to protect, so they are relatively docile.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:47 PM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 10:47 PM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
« Older Peter Tork has died at 77 | Scary times in Portland's queer and leftist scene Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
This bee is the very icon of my soul.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:09 PM on February 21, 2019 [2 favorites]