A new species of native bee has been discovered in the Bremer Range of Western Australia, highlighting the region's rich biodiversity. Kit Prendergast, a native bee scientist, was conducting a survey of pollinators for the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonaris when she encountered the unusual bee. "It was so biodiverse … I have never seen so many insects — not just native bees, but wasps, flies," Prendergast said.

The Bremer Range, located over 600 kilometers east of Perth, is home to this unique wildflower, which only grows in that area. Prendergast described the bee as having distinctive "devil-like horns," which led her to name the new species Megachile (Hackerists) lucifer, inspired by a character from a Netflix show she was watching at the time.

This solitary bee belongs to the genus Megachile, which does not form colonies like European honey bees. Prendergast suspects that the lucifer bee builds nests in small tree holes created by wood-boring beetles and uses resin from nearby eucalyptus trees to seal them. She noted that only female lucifer bees have the horn-like structures, but the purpose of these horns remains unclear. "They could be competing for nesting sites, could be to aid in foraging — we don't know yet," she said.

The Bremer Range is situated in the Shire of Dundas, part of the Great Western Woodlands, the largest temperate woodland on Earth. Laurene Bonza, president of the Dundas shire, expressed excitement over the discovery but emphasized that it was not surprising given the area's biodiversity. "It has an amazing diversity of plants and animals," she said. "I would suspect that there's a heck of a lot left [to discover]."

However, the region faces threats from mining activities. Audalia Resources has proposed a project to mine vanadium, titanium, and iron ore in the Bremer Range, which could require clearing up to 650 hectares of native vegetation. The Environmental Protection Authority has approved the Medcalf Vanadium Project, but it must ensure that it does not disturb the habitat of the endangered Marianthus aquilonaris and comply with various environmental conditions, including rehabilitation efforts.

Bonza expressed concern about the environmental impact of mining, stating, "Mining is basically wholesale destruction. While they can do a bit of rehab, they're never ever going to put things back how they were, realistically."

The lucifer bee is the first new species in its genus to be identified in 20 years, underscoring the lack of knowledge about native bees. Prendergast noted that many remote areas, including the Goldfields, have not been surveyed for invertebrates. "We're definitely the first to survey the area for insects," she said.

She pointed out that native bee surveys are not typically required by mining companies or agricultural enterprises when clearing land. "For vertebrates, there's enough information on their distribution [and] there's good monitoring," she said. "But for many of our native bees, they might have been collected once 50 years ago — and then no one has gone back to see if they're there."