The world's largest bee, also known asWallace's giant bee, is about four times larger than a European honeybee.

（圖解：世界上最大的蜂，也被稱之為“華萊士巨蜂”，大約是歐洲蜜蜂的四倍大）

After eluding researchers for nearly fourdecades, the world's largest bee has been discovered alive and well on adensely forested Indonesian island.

在避開研究者的耳目約四十年后，這種世界上最大的蜂已經(jīng)被發(fā)現(xiàn)了活體，它在印度尼西亞一個森林濃密的島嶼上活得很滋潤。? ?

“It was absolutely breathtaking to see this ‘flying bulldog’ of aninsect that we weren’t sure existed anymore, to have real proof right there infront of us in the wild,” Clay Bolt, a natural history photographerspecializing in bees, said in a statement. “To actually see how beautiful andbig the species is in life, to hear the sound of its giant wings thrumming asit flew past my head, was just incredible."

“能看到昆蟲中這只‘會飛的斗牛犬’就在我們眼前的野地留下了真正的證據(jù)實在是很激動人心，過去我們可是不敢確定它還繼續(xù)存在著”，專拍蜂類的自然史攝影師克雷·博爾特在一則聲明中這樣說?！澳茉谏钪姓媲械乜吹竭@個物種有多美多大，在它飛過我腦袋時能聽到它那巨大翅膀發(fā)出的嗡嗡聲，這簡直讓人難以置信。”

First discovered by Alfred Russel Wallacein 1859, Megachile pluto, also known as "Wallace's giant bee," has abody measuring roughly 1.5 inches long and a wingspan of nearly 2.5 inches. Italso features a set of imposing pinchers, which it uses to gather resin andwood for its nest. The species is so incredibly rare and elusive, that itwasn't seen again until 1981 when American biologist Adam Messer discovered thenests of six solitary giants.

它于1859年由阿爾弗雷德·拉塞爾·華萊士首次發(fā)現(xiàn)，也被稱為“華萊士巨蜂”，經(jīng)量體，長度大致為1.5英寸（3.8厘米），翼展大約是2.5英寸（6.3厘米）。它的另一個特色是一對壯觀的口鉗，筑巢時用來采集樹脂和木頭。該物種是如此得稀有和神出鬼沒，以至于自1981年美國生物學家亞當·梅塞爾發(fā)現(xiàn)了六只獨居蜂的巢以來，它再也沒被見到過。

“Messer’s rediscovery gave us some insight, but we still know next tonothing about this extraordinary insect,” said trip member and bee expert EliWyman, an entomologist at Princeton University.

“梅塞爾的重新發(fā)現(xiàn)帶給了我們一些深入的了解，但我們對于這種非凡昆蟲的了解仍接近于零”，同行成員也是蜂類專家的伊萊·懷曼說，他是普林斯頓大學的昆蟲學家。

A hard bee to find

一種難以覓蹤的蜂

?
Wallace's Giant Bee, the world's largestspecies of bee, being photographed outside its nest somewhere in the Indonesianislands of North Moluccas.

（圖解：印度尼西亞北摩鹿加島某處，世界上最大的蜂種華萊士巨蜂正在蜂巢外被拍攝中）

In the quest to find a bee that many fearedhad gone extinct, Bolt and his team traveled to the Indonesian islands known asthe North Moluccas in January 2019. Both the location and timing matched theearlier discoveries made by both Wallace and Messer. They also knew that thegiant bees had a preference for using arboreal termite mounds for their nests.For four days, the team and local village guides climbed ladders and started attermite mounds for 20 minutes at a time for signs of the bee. On the fifth day,with all members of the team suffering from various illnesses, they decided tocheck out one more mound about eight feet off the ground.

為了搜尋一種很多人怕已經(jīng)滅絕的蜂，博爾特和他的團隊在2019年1月行至被稱為北摩鹿加的印度尼西亞島嶼。這個地點和時間均符合華萊士和梅塞爾早年的發(fā)現(xiàn)。他們也知道這種巨型蜂在筑巢時偏愛使用樹棲白蟻的白蟻丘。四天以來，該團隊和當?shù)卮迩f的向導爬上梯子開始在白蟻丘上搜尋這種蜂存在的跡象，每次20分鐘。到第五天時，所有的隊員都染上了各種不同的疾病，他們決定再檢查一座距地面八英尺（2.44米）高的蟻丘。

"Eli climbed up and immediately feltfor certain that it was a bee nest," Bolt wrote in an account of thediscovery. "The structure was just too perfect and similar to what weexpected to find. I climbed up next and my headlamp glinted on the mostremarkable thing I’d ever laid my eyes on. I simply couldn’t believe it: We hadrediscovered Wallace’s Giant Bee."

“伊萊爬了上去，立刻就覺察到那確鑿無疑是個蜂巢”，博爾特在這次發(fā)現(xiàn)的報道中如此寫到?！澳欠N構造實在是太完美了，而且和我們期待著能找到的那種很相像。我跟著爬了上去，然后我那閃閃發(fā)光的照明燈照見了我迄今見過的最非凡的東西。我甚至都無法相信：我們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了華萊士巨蜂?！?br/>
After capturing the female specimen, theteam took photos and video (shown below), and then carefully returned the beeto her nest. "We were elated," added Bolt.

在捕獲了這只雌性樣本后，該團隊拍下了照片和視頻，然后小心翼翼地把這只蜂放回了她的巢。博爾特補充道，“當時我們興高采烈”。

The sting of regret

關于蟄針的遺憾

As you might expect, the world's largestbee also comes with a giant stinger. Surprisingly, however, the one thing theresearchers lamented was the fact that they did not have the opportunity tofeel its punch.

如你所預料的那樣，這種世界最大的蜂也有著一根巨大的蟄針。然而讓人驚訝的是，有件事是讓研究者們扼腕嘆息的，就是他們未曾有機會感受它蟄人的威力。

“We were very keen to be stung by the bee,” professor and team memberSimon Robson told the Sydney Morning Herald. "People who work on bees getvery excited about the pain levels of various bees, whether it's indifferent orlike being shot by a bullet. But because we only found one, we did not want toharass it too much."

“我們非?？释贿@種蜂蟄咬”，隊員賽門·羅伯森教授告訴悉尼晨先驅晨報。“在各種蜂的蟄咬疼痛等級這件事上，研究蜂類的那些人會變得非常興奮，無論是很輕微還是如同被子彈射中。但因為我們只找到了一只，我們不想過分侵擾它。”

Now that the bee's rediscovery has beenmade public, the team is working with Indonesian researchers and conservationgroups to help protect the critical habitat necessary for its survival.According to Global Wildlife Conservation — which earlier named the bee to itstop 25 most wanted species in its Search for Lost Species program — forestdestruction for agriculture is a growing issue for the Indonesian archipelago.

由于這種蜂的重新發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)公諸于眾，該團隊正在和印尼研究者以及保護組織合作，以幫助保護這片關鍵的棲息地好讓這種蜂生存下去。根據(jù)全球野生動物保護協(xié)會的說法，其在早些時候為了失落物種計劃把這種蜂列入了前25位最需要被找到的物種，毀林造田是印度尼西亞群島存在的一個日益嚴重的問題。

“I hope this rediscovery will spark future research that will give usa deeper understanding of the life history of this very unique bee and informany future efforts to protect it from extinction," added Wyman.

“我希望這個發(fā)現(xiàn)能鼓舞未來的研究，為我們帶來對這種獨特蜂類生命史的更深了解，并為保護它免于滅絕的未來努力提供信息”，懷曼說。