The bee was first found in 1858 by British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace
The world’s largest bee has been rediscovered, more than 160 years after it was first seen on a tropical Indonesian island.
The giant insect is as long as an adult’s thumb, and not a single one of them had been seen since 1981.
Known as Wallace’s giant bee, a team of scientists found a single live female during an expedition to Indonesia’s North Moluccas islands in January.
They filmed and photographed the creature, which is described as being four times larger than a European honeybee.
Named after the scientist who made the discovery, the insect was first seen in 1858 by British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on the tropical Indonesian island of Bacan.
Several specimens of the bee were next found in 1981, but it had not been seen since until the 2019 expedition.
Clay Bolt, one of the scientists on the expedition, described seeing the “flying bulldog” of an insect in the wild was “breathtaking”.
Eli Wyman, who joined Mr Bolt on the trip, added: “To actually see how beautiful and big the species is in life, to hear the sound of its giant wings thrumming as it flew past my head, was just incredible.
“My dream is to now use this rediscovery to elevate this bee to a symbol of conservation in this part of Indonesia, and a point of pride for the locals there.”
The trip was supported by environmental group Global Wildlife Conservation, which has launched a worldwide hunt for 25 “lost species”.
They include the Fernandina Galapagos tortoise, last seen in 1906, and the Sinu parakeet, last seen in 1949.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli airstrikes represented the “best of humanity” and risked everything “to feed people they did not know and will never meet,” José Andrés, the celebrity chef who founded the organization, told mourners who gathered Thursday to honor the dead.
Speaking at Washington National Cathedral, Andrés said there was no excuse for the killings and he called for an investigation into the deaths. He appeared to struggle at times to maintain his composure, his words focused on the lives and contributions of the aid workers as he pleaded for greater compassion.
“The seven souls we mourn today were there so that hungry people could eat,” said Andrés, reading aloud their names. "Their examples should inspire us to do better, to be better.”
The workers were killed April 1 when strikes from Israeli armed drones ripped through vehicles in their convoy as they left one of World Central Kitchen’s warehouses on a food delivery mission: Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Britons John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson; dual U.S.-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger; Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom; and Polish citizen Damiam Sobol.
Andrés spoke in depth about each one and their contributions to the work of feeding people suffering through disaster and deprivation — human-made and natural — around the world.
He said Abutaha was an integral member of the team who was very close to his family. He said Chapman was “brave, selfless and strong” and had the ability to make people around him feel “loved and protected.”
Andrés said Flickinger was a problem-solver, “exactly what you need” in the chaos of a disaster zone and Frankcom gave “joy to others even more than she gave food."
He talked of how Henderson had taught first aid in Ukraine and was an avid rugby player. He said Kirby, known to friends as “Kirbs," was driven to help people in need. And he said a town in Turkey had named a street after Sobol, in honor of his work there after an earthquake.
At times, Andrés spoke emotionally about the organization's mission and why aid workers do what they do.
“We stand next to communities as they feed themselves, nourish themselves, heal themselves. People don’t want our pity. They want our respect. Our only way to show respect is facing the mayhem alongside them,” he said. “We remind them by showing up that they are not alone in the darkness.”
After an unusually swift investigation, Israel said the military officials involved in the attack had violated policy by acting based on a single grainy photo that one officer had contended — incorrectly — showed one of the seven workers was armed. The Israeli military dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others.
“I know we all have many unanswered questions about what happened and why. There is no excuse for these killings," Andrés told mourners, demanding an investigation. "The official explanation is not good enough.”
The aid workers, whose trip had been coordinated with Israeli officials, are among more than 220 humanitarian workers killed in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 7, according to the United Nations. That includes at least 30 killed in the line of duty.
The international prominence and popularity of Andrés and his nonprofit work galvanized widespread outrage over the killings of the group’s workers. The deaths intensified demands from the administration and others that Israel’s military change how it operates in Hamas-controlled Gaza to spare aid workers and Palestinian civilians in the territory who are facing a humanitarian crisis and desperately need aid from relief organizations as the U.N. warns of looming famine.
World Central Kitchen, along with several other humanitarian aid agencies, suspended work in the territory after the attack. “We haven’t given up,” World Central Kitchen spokesperson Linda Roth said last week. “We are in funeral mode right now.”
Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and Kurt Campbell, the deputy secretary of state, were among those at the event, joined by diplomats from more than 30 countries, along with representatives from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, one of the most active lawmakers pushing President Joe Biden to condition military aid on improved Israeli treatment of aid workers and Palestinian civilians, joined the mourners as a lone bagpiper played.
Associated Press writers Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to reflect that Kurt Campbell is the deputy secretary of state, not the assistant deputy secretary of state.
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello as, front row from left, Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Sen. Chris Van Hollen D-Md., Katherine Wilkins, Assistant Secretary of State Julieta Valls Noyes and Suzy George, look on, at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. A memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, walks after speaking at the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
From left, Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Sen. Chris Van Hollen D-Md., Katherine Wilkins, and Assistant Secretary of State Julieta Valls Noyes, during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
FILE - Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, April 2, 2024. A memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington, on April 25, will honor seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza earlier this month. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah, File)
