What is the largest bee?

The largest bee is Wallace’s giant bee, Megachile pluto.

This Indonesian resin bee is the largest known living bee species. Females can reach about 38 millimetres in body length and have wingspans of roughly 63.5 millimetres. They also possess enormous jaws, which help them collect and manipulate plant resin used in nest construction.

The species was collected by Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858, but its remarkable story did not end there. It was presumed lost for decades before entomologist Adam C. Messer rediscovered nests in 1981. A live female was finally filmed in the wild in 2019, after the species had again gone unseen for many years.

Wallace’s giant bee is not a honeybee, bumblebee or carpenter bee. It is a solitary resin bee, although females may share a termite nest. Its known habitat is limited to several islands in Indonesia’s North Moluccas, and habitat loss has contributed to its Vulnerable conservation status.