Scientists unearth a 14.6-million-year-old bee whose family tree does not fit existing theories

A 14.6-million-year-old Miocene fossil is encouraging a fresh look at how bees spread across isolated landmasses. It comes from a single specimen preserved in Hindon Maar mudstone in southern New Zealand, where researchers have been unearthing various ancient life forms.

The scientists behind the find, Dr. Michael Engel from the American Museum of Natural History and Dr. Uwe Kaulfuss from the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, describe the fossil as part of the Leioproctus genus.

Leioproctus is a member of the plasterer bee family, also known as Colletidae, which includes solitary bees that build tiny brood cells lined with a cellophane-like secretion.

Leioproctus bee connections

The fossil measures around 0.25 inches from head to abdomen and reveals details of wing veins that match modern Leioproctus bees.

Researchers report that this ancient insect, named Leioproctus barrydonovani, might hint at a branch of bees that did not spread or adapt the way related species have done in other regions.

Its size is similar to small plasterer bees that still live in New Zealand and Australia. Scientists believe the family arrived in these areas through dispersal events millions of years ago.

Some experts have wondered if bees arrived in New Zealand much later than in other parts of the world. According to a previous study, only 42 species exist in the islands, with 28 being unique to that area.

“In many respects the fauna is typical of an island biota, reflective of lineages dispersing to the landmass at various times since its breakup from Gondwana c. 80 million years ago and then speciating,” said the study authors. The Miocene fossil suggests a possible earlier timeline. 

Why this discovery raises eyebrows

If Leioproctus took root in New Zealand 14.6 million years ago, one would expect more local offshoots of this group across the islands. Instead, there are only 18 native Leioproctus species today, indicating that something might have limited their spread.

One possibility is that these bees entered multiple times, with earlier groups dying out. Another is that the harsh environmental changes of later geological periods reduced any ancient populations that once thrived.

Possible ties to local flowers

Ancient pollinators often had specialized relationships with certain plants. Leioproctus barrydonovani might have visited flowers of the genus Pseudopanax, based on abundant fossilized blooms in the same Hindon Maar deposits.

Modern Leioproctus pango gathers pollen from Pseudopanax shrubs, so the ancient species may have followed a similar pattern. If pollen is discovered on future fossils, researchers can confirm which plants served as its food source.

Leioproctus bee evolution

Paleontologists see New Zealand as a fascinating puzzle. It drifted away from Gondwana tens of millions of years ago, and the landmass changed shape and size through rising seas and volcanic activity.

Through all of those changes, insect life sometimes flourished and sometimes disappeared. The scarcity of native bees there today could trace back to cataclysmic events that shaped the land’s landscapes and climates.

The short supply of melittofauna (bee diversity) in New Zealand has puzzled scientists for decades. Bees are typically strong pollinators worldwide, but here they seem overshadowed by generalist flies and a small number of pollinating birds.

Some researchers propose that once the flora adapted to the few insects available, there was less of a push for the bees to radiate into new forms. Others suggest the seeds of that smaller population were planted more recently than many realize.

Implications for future studies

By exploring more of the Hindon Maar deposits, paleontologists hope to uncover additional fossils that could confirm the relationships between extinct and modern bee species.

Direct evidence of pollen on fossil wings or bodies might pin down which plants they favored, shining light on pollination habits in Miocene forests.

Those glimpses could also help clarify why certain insect lineages thrived while others remained static. New pieces of evidence might alter long-held views about how pollinator groups moved around this rugged region.

Where does Leioproctus lead us now?

Experts think more fossils from Otago could reveal whether Leioproctus barrydonovani truly represents an early branch of the genus or a short-lived offshoot.

Genetic studies of modern Leioproctus might link them directly to this ancient ancestor or place them on a separate track.

If the 14.6-million-year-old bee does turn out to be unrelated to modern New Zealand Leioproctus, it may confirm that bees settled the islands multiple times.

That scenario might explain why the local plasterer bees have limited variation despite millions of years of potential opportunities.

More questions than answers

Those who study pollinators say that New Zealand’s unusual mix of plants and insects shows how migration and survival often take unexpected paths. These findings encourage biologists to remain flexible in how they classify new fossil data.

The differences in wing structure between Leioproctus barrydonovani and present-day relatives hint at lineages that never made it past the Miocene.

If fresh clues confirm that ancient populations were wiped out, that detail might reshape how we understand pollinator extinctions and arrivals.

The compressed specimen was likely deposited in a calm lake environment. Conditions at Hindon Maar allowed for delicate body parts and wings to remain visible over the ages, giving researchers a precious look at a past ecosystem.

Its delicate preservation has raised the hope of recovering pollen details in future specimens. That kind of evidence would strengthen claims about who pollinated New Zealand’s flora millions of years ago.

Leioproctus challenges evolution timelines

Each step forward in fossil bee research challenges standard timelines of insect migration.

When data appear to break from standard patterns, it prompts evolutionary biologists to question whether earlier assumptions missed entire waves of arrival.

Ancient pollinators may have been more widespread than the modern fauna suggests.

Understanding why some species thrive while others vanish helps paint a bigger picture of how life adapts to shifting environments.

The study is published in Zoosystema.

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