What is Giant bee?
[[File:Stavenn Megachile pluto.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The world's largest bee: ''Megachile pluto'']] '''''Megachile pluto''''', also known as '''Wallace's giant bee''',<ref>{{cite web |first1=Clay |last1=Bolt |date=2019-02-21 |title=Rediscovering Wallace's giant bee |url=https://www.globalwildlife.org/2019/02/21/rediscovering-wallaces-giant-bee/ |access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> is a very large [[Indonesia]]n [[bee]]. It is the largest known living bee species. It was believed to be extinct until several specimens were found in 1981. No more were found until two were collected and sold on [[eBay]] in 2018. A live female was found and filmed for the first time in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last=Briggs |first=Helen |date=2019-02-22 |title=World's biggest bee found alive |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47311186 |access-date=2019-02-22}}</ref> It is in the Megachilidae family of bees, which carry pollen on their underside. It is about 4 cm long and has a 6 cm wingspan. ==Ecology== Wallace's giant bees build communal nests inside active nests of a tree-dwelling [[termite]]. This may have hidden their existence even from island residents. The bee uses tree [[resin]] to build compartments inside the termite nest, which protects its galleries. Female bees leave their nests repeatedly to forage for resin. The bee's large jaws help to gather resin: the female makes large balls of resin which are held between the jaws. The association of the bee with the termite may be obligate (it must live there).<ref name=messer>{{cite journal | author = Messer A.C. | title = ''Chalicodoma pluto'': The World's largest bee rediscovered living communally in termite nests (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) | journal = Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society | year = 1984 | volume = 57 | issue = 1 | pages = 165–168 | jstor = 25084498 }}</ref> == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Bees]]