Researchers discovered an orchid bee that had a blend of male and female body parts and genetics, though genetic analysis allowed them to conclude this bee is mostly feminine.
Suzuki et al. (2015) report:
Findings obtained through both morphological and genetic analyses of a gynander orchid bee (Euglossa melanotricha). For the genetic analysis, microsatellite markers were used to genotype the gynander bee. The morphological analysis revealed that the individual studied had a sting, and most parts of the insect body showed female phenotype, except for the three left legs. As in other reports on gynanders of orchid bees, the specimen of E. melanotricha analyzed herein was included in the category of mixed (or mosaic). From the seven microsatellite loci amplified, five were heterozygous for both male and female tissues, indicating that the organism analyzed is compatible with a diploid organism and not with a hemizygous or haploid one. Both the morphological and genetic characteristics of the gynander of E. melanotricha analyzed reveal that this specimen shows predominantly female characteristics.
Yet, Suzuki and colleagues suggest that this female-male labeling is not as clarifying as directly studying the mechanisms would be, and urge other researchers to look further into csd gene regulation:
In parallel, when considering the genetic uniformity of phenotypically different tissues (male and female) of this individual, the gynandromorph of E. melanotricha would be, in fact, an intersex bee.
In the current literature, there are over 100 reports of anomalous bees, showing both female and male phenotypes in the same individual, usually named gynander or gynadromorph (Wcislo et al. 2004; Michez et al. 2009). In light of the above scenario [of possible sampling bias discussed in omitted text], we suggest that future studies on gynander and intersex bees should give more emphasis to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the csd gene regulation in an attempt to better elucidate how these anomalous organisms are generated.