‘Lucifer’ bee not from hell

While surveying a critically endangered wildflower in the state of Western Australia in 2019, Kit Prendergast of Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences discovered a new species of bee.

“The female had these incredible little horns on her face,” she said on 11 November.

A fan of the Netflix TV show “Lucifer,” Prendergast said the name was the perfect fit for the bee’s distinctively devilish appearance.

Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer is the name of the new bee species.

She added that she hopes the discovery will raise awareness about the number of undiscovered species that could still be out there, especially in areas threatened by mining.