Australians are in awe of a native bee covered in deep blue stripes after learning the unusual insect can be found across the country.
The blue-banded bee can be spotted in gardens in each state except for Tasmania and can be recognised by the coloured stripes around their abdomen.
While the bees have stingers they are not known to be aggressive and are attracted to native plants including tomato flowers.
The insects, which are also known by their scientific name Amegilla cingulate, live solitary lives and don’t produce any honey.
They can often be heard in gardens shaking flowers in an attempt to get the pollen off.
Females build their own nest which are usually dug into soft mud or sandstone bricks.
A photo of the mysterious insect taken by wildlife photographer Nick Volpe went viral on Facebook with many Australians admitting they’d never even heard of it.
‘Never seen a blue bee or knew they existed. Beautiful,’ one person wrote.
‘That’s amazing! I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it!’ Another said.
Others said they were lucky enough to have the blue bees buzzing around their gardens regularly.
BLUE-BANDED BEES
- The bees are found across Australia except for in Tasmania and are also known by their scientific name Amegilla cingulate
- They grow to about 11mm and live for around 40 days
- Males have five blue stripes around their bodies and females have four
- They have stingers but aren’t aggressive and do not produce any honey
- The bees can often be heard in gardens shaking flowers to get the pollen off
source: DailyMail
