Neon Bee

Large and docile, this brightly luminescent bee lazily bumbles through the air on humming wings.

A large insect resembling an oversized bumblebee. Roughly the size of a golf ball, these insects fly slowly and lazily through the warm and humid air of the Lutinia Forest. The distinctive buzzing sound of smaller bee species has become a loud, deep hum, the deep bass reverberating through the trees and dense undergrowth.
These bees derive their name from the brightly glowing band on their abdomen, which shines a luminous neon red. They play a key ecological role in the Lutinia Forest as the primary pollinator of many of the flowering plants found within the hot jungle.
The Neon bee is a eusocial insect, carving hives from nooks in the towering hardwood trees. Hives are easy to identify by the bright neon red glow from the colony inside. Like smaller honey and bumble bees, they congregate in large hives around an especially large and luminous queen bee. Comb-like structures are carved into the wood, which the worker bees fill with larvae, pollen, or honey, and cap with a thin layer of soft wax. All worker bees are female, with the rare males being breeding drones.
Workers typically live up to seven years, while queens can live for over twenty years. Drones only live for up to six months, and die after mating with a young queen bee.
Neon bees have no natural predators and will not sting, even when their hives are threatened and raided for honey. They are calm and docile enough to remain still when approached, and they emit a happy sounding hum when gently pet. Some settlements in High Lutinia have domesticated neon bees by constructing apiaries, giving them a safe and reliable source of sweet, sticky honey.

Noctislumen

A close cousin of the Neon bee, this rare nocturnal insect softly hums through the rain forest at night.

Officially classified as Bombus Noctislumen, this insect is commonly known as the Darklight or Blacklight Bee. They can be easily distinguished by their bright neon brethren by both their nocturnal habits, and by the lack of a visible glowing band on their abdomen. These bees still luminesce, but they do so beyond the range of human vision, glowing brilliantly in the near ultraviolet. This causes certain nearby materials and plant structures to fluoresce brightly.

Scientific Name

Bombus Megalumen

Geographic Distribution

• Lutinia Forest