Most Australians probably like to think they have a pretty good knowledge about our native animals, but there is one brightly coloured critter that many might not know exists. Blue banded bees are native to Australia and get their name from the bright blue stripes across their abdomens. These little creatures can be found all over the country, apart from Tasmania, yet many Aussies have been shocked to find out they exist.

A photo taken by wildlife photographer Nick Volpe went viral on social media, with the picture being shared to multiple pages. Many people revealed they had never seen this type of bee before or knew they existed. "Wow how pretty. Can't say I've seen one yet but I'll definitely keep an eye out," one Facebook user said. "Never seen a blue bee or knew they existed. Beautiful," another wrote. One added: "That's amazing! I've never seen or heard of anything like it!" Unlike some other types of bees, blue banded bees are a solitary species, meaning that each female bee mates and then builds a solitary nest by herself.

These types of bees are knowing for performing a special type of pollination called 'buzz pollination', which allowed them to get pollen out of particularly tricky flowers. To do this, the bee grabs on to the flower and shivers using its flight muscles, causing the pollen to shoot out. Some social media users revealed they were lucky enough to have these brightly coloured creatures in their garden, with some claiming they can hear them shaking the pollen out of flowers.

BLUE-BANDED BEES: The bees are found across Australia except for in Tasmania and are also known by their scientific name Amegilla cingulate. They grow to about 11mm and live for around 40 days. Males have five blue stripes around their bodies and females have four. They have stingers but aren't aggressive and do not produce any honey. The bees can often be heard in gardens shaking flowers to get the pollen off.