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Image comparing a honey bee and a specimen of "Megachile Pluto" CLAY BOLT / Global Wildlife Conservation / AFP

We found the largest bee in the world. Wallace's bee lives in Indonesia, in the Maluku Islands. Its last appearance was in 1981. Scientists hope that the rediscovery of this extremely rare insect will help to better protect it.

She is long and elegant with her wasp waist and all dressed in black velvet. The "Megachile Pluto" is as big as a human thumb. For this very rare species, the female can reach nearly 4 cm long and more than 6 cm wingspan, four times more than the honey bee.

" It was breathtaking to see this beautiful insect ," said naturalist photographer Clay Bolt, who found a natural hive in the rainforest of an island in North Maluku, Indonesia.

Discovered in 1858 by Alfred Russel Wallace, this bee was lost for more than a century, before an entomologist rediscovered it in 1981. Several expeditions had since been conducted in the archipelago to find it. All had failed, until the "Megachile Pluto" finally crossed the path of men once again.

From this rediscovery, researchers hope to make their honey to protect this unique bee. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Endangered Species refers to Wallace's bee as "vulnerable" and not at risk.