Pachyprosopis cornuta, f, australia, back

Pachyprosopis cornuta, Horned Naked Bee, collected in Australia by Laurence PackerHere we have a representative of a subfamily of bees found only in Australia and nearby islands, although at least one has been introduced to a different continent (Africa) where it persisted long enough for bee collectors to find some. This Naked Bee was collected from eucalyptus blossoms while standing on the roof of a car, this unusual footing being required to reach the flowers of the tall tree. The Horned Naked Bee has unusual horn-like projections on the head of the female that vary in size and shape according to how large she is. The smallest females have small conical horns; the largest ones have long curved ones. What they do with these structures is unknown but normally when something is disproportionately larger in bigger individuals the structure serves some combative purpose.