The blue-green beetle that became extinct reappeared after 4 years

Biologists at the Florida Museum of Natural History discovered the return of a rare blue bee, the thought to have gone extinct for four years.

The blue calaminthae bee (Osmia calaminthae) is endemic to Florida, previously only found in four restricted 41 km2 wide locations around Lake Wales Ridge. After many consecutive years no individual has been observed, scientists suspect they have disappeared completely on Earth.

An O. calaminthae specimen was collected in 2002. (Image: CNN).

"The rediscovery of the calaminthae bee in Wales Ridge is a breakthrough , " said postdoctoral researcher Chase Kimmel at the Florida Museum of Natural History, who found the bee . "I thought they were extinct, so it was very surprising to see one in the field."

Kimmel said he accidentally discovered the animal while collecting pollen and erecting a honeycomb on the Calamintha ashei field - the plant that provides the main food source for O. calaminthae. "It landed on a C. ashei flower and rubbed its head on the tip of the flower 2-3 times before flying to another flower. I was a little surprised to see this behavior, " Kimmel added.

The description of green calaminthae was still very limited. The team plans to carry out a two-year project to determine the number of species, while also gathering more information on their nesting habits and feeding behavior.

A green calaminthae bee finds the nectar of C. ashei. (Photo: Tim Lethbridge).

Bees and flowering plants depend on one another in nature. Honey and pollen provide the main source of food for bees and vice versa, these insects are important pollinators. Therefore, the absence of green calaminthae in recent years has seriously affected C. ashei.

The team also found another plant that O. calaminthae often visits to find food in case C. ashei flowers cannot be found. However, both of these plants are threatened.