World’s largest bee, rediscovered after nearly four decades

The world’s largest bee,Wallace’s giant bee,in the size of a human thumb, has been rediscovered in a remote part of Indonesia after 40 years.

First discovered in the 19th century by British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and was nicknamed the ‘flying bulldog’.

The bee has been finally found in 1981 and now once again found by a group of natural history photographer Clay Bolt,entomologist Eli Wyman,behavioural ecologist Simon Robson and ornithologist Glenn Chilton.

The scientists found one of the giant bees living in the termite’s nest after five days of searching.

The research team found a female Wallace giant bee having 2.5 inch wingspan and having the size of a human thumb.

“To actually see how beautiful and big the species is in life,to hear the sound of giant wings,it was just incredible,”said Bolt.