Discovery of an androgynous bee in Ecuador: half female, half male

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The National Institute of Biodiversity (Inabio) of Ecuador announced on Monday (30) the discovery of the first case of an androgynous bee, with morphological characteristics of both sexes: half female, half male.

Researchers from Inabio and the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA, Brazil) reported this first case of “gynandromorphism” in the orchid bee (Eulaema meriana), found in a sector of the province of Los Rios, in the tropical region of southeastern Ecuador.

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The scientific article on this finding, developed within a Trilateral Cooperation Project framework between Germany, Brazil, and Ecuador, was published in the prestigious international journal Sociobiology.

The specimen described in this publication “presents, for the most part, masculine traits on the left side and feminine traits on the right”.

Thus, the right side of the specimen’s head shows “a large and robust jaw, adorned with a row of teeth,” which is, according to the researchers, a feature normally found in a female.

However, “the left half of the insect had the delicate features of a male,” a circumstance that, after “a quick look at the rest of the bee’s body revealed much the same.”

This bee is “a ‘she’ on the right and a ‘he’ on the left,” the source said.

Researchers Alex Pazmiño, from Inabio, and Marcio Oliveira, from INPA, emphasized that “this mysterious insect is an extremely rare gynandromorph, an animal that is anatomically half male and half female, the first found in the species Eulaema meriana, a type of orchid bee native to Central and South America.”

The researchers said that the intersexual characteristics of these androgynous individuals could be attributed to anomalies in embryo development, double fertilization events, or genetic errors.

In general, “several hypotheses have been put forward in previous research on the origin of this phenomenon in insects,” added Inabio, specifying that the detection of the androgynous individual was possible “due to the marked sexual difference between male and female orchid bees.

“Males have specialized morphological structures to collect fragrances for reproductive purposes, while females have structures to collect pollen and maintain offspring,” the study adds.

The Inabio report highlighted that, despite the remarkable morphological differences between bee sexes and the anomalies they present, the scientific study took more than thirty years since the specimen entered a scientific collection of the Institute.

According to Inabio, this delay is due to the “notable lack of knowledge of the native bee fauna in Ecuador”, suggesting the importance of continuing research on “this fantastic group of pollinators”.

The National Biodiversity Institute is a public institution that seeks to generate knowledge and develop science, technology, and innovation required by the Ecuadorian State to guarantee the conservation of its natural heritage.