The species – dubbed “Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer” – was found in the state of Western Australia in 2019, Curtin University announced today.

Kit Prendergast at the university’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences discovered the bee while surveying a critically endangered wildflower that year and was immediately drawn to the insect’s unique appearance.

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

The “highly distinctive, prominent horns” are only on the female bee and may be used as a defence mechanism, to gather pollen or nectar, or to collect materials such as resin for nests.

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

“It’s the first new member of this bee group to be described in more than 20 years, which really shows how much life we still have to discover,” she noted.

She hopes that “lucifer” – which means “light bringer” in Latin – will raise awareness about the number of undiscovered species that could still be out there, especially in areas threatened by mining.

“Many mining companies still don’t survey for native bees, so we may be missing undescribed species, including those that play crucial roles in supporting threatened plants and ecosystems,” Prendergast added.

“Without knowing which native bees exist and what plants they depend on, we risk losing both before we even realise they’re there.”

Almost all flowering plants depend on wild pollinators, particularly bees, but habitat loss and climate change are driving many vital species to the brink of extinction.