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‘Metallic’ creatures that store aromas in their legs seen for the first time in Ecuador

Deep in the tropical rainforests of northern Ecuador, researchers equipped with slingshots launched traps scented with vanilla, clove, wintergreen and eucalyptus up into the tree canopy, hoping to catch a “striking” species known for collecting odors.

Unable to resist a tempting aroma, the traps successfully lured their target – large iridescent orchid bees – including four species never before recorded in Ecuador, according to a study published Feb. 24 in the Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics.

These four species were caught within the Canandé Biological Reserve in the Chocó-Darién rainforest – a “biodiversity hotspot” largely unexplored and “threatened due to massive timber extraction,” researchers said.

According to the study, the addition of Euglossa bursigera, Euglossa crassipunctata, Euglossa villosiventris and Eufriesea macroglossa brings the number of orchid bee species recorded in Ecuador to 119.

Most of the newly recorded species are hundreds of miles away from the regions in which they’ve previously been documented, with Eufriesea macroglossa about 621 miles away from its nearest known location in Talamanca, Costa Rica, according to researchers.

The four newly-recorded orchid bees vary in color, ranging from “brilliant metallic green or green-blue,” to “blue-violet,” to yellow, according to the study.

All four species have “velvet” patches and “tufts” of hair on their large tibias, according to the study. These features help trap smells – an important tool in their “unique odor-collecting behaviour,” and of their reproduction process, researchers said.

Collecting odors

Males collect “perfumes” from various orchid plants and store them in cavities on their legs, then use those scents to attract mates, according to a December 2024 study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

This odor-collection process helps pollinate the plant species the bees visit, researchers said.

More than 700 orchid species rely exclusively on orchid bees for pollination, according to the study.

Orchid bees are also important pollinators of other plant species, researchers said. A single species of orchid bee “can visit up to 237 different plant species belonging to 56 families,” according to the study.

The research team responsible for recording the four new orchid bee species in Ecuador includes Alexandra D. Hernández Hernández, Marcio L. de Oliveira, David R. Diaz-Guevara, Cristina Alarcón-Ortiz, and Alex Pazmiño-Palomino.