Native Bee Survey

University of Maryland Campus Native Bee Survey

Though the 2015 Maryland Native Bee Survey is still ongoing as of July 2015, the Native Bee Survey from 2014 has concluded. As a matter of ecological interest and concern, its results should be made public, and in the interest of broadening the visibility of this important information, this page has been created.

The 2014 Native Bee Survey found about 48 species of bees, and where available, links to example pictures of bees will be included in the species names.

Scientific Name	Common Name	General Traits	Nesting	Introduced?
Agapostemon virescens	sweat bee	metallic green, 11mm long	communal burrows	native
Anthidium oblangatum	leaf cutter bee	bright yellow/black, 10-13mm	pre-existing cavities	introduced
Apis mellifera	european honey bee	golden with darker stripes, 12-16mm	colonies, built or found holes	introduced
Augochlora pura	sweat bee	metallic yellow/green, 8mm	under bark	native
Bombus fervidus	yellow bumble bee	black with much yellow hair, 11mm	colonies, built or found holes	native
Bombus griseocollis	brown-belted bumble bee	black with yellow thorax hair, 10-18mm	colonies, found holes	native
Bombus impatiens	common eastern bumble bee	yellow body, yellow base of abdomen, 9-16mm	colonies, found holes	native
Calliopsis andreniformis	mining bee	black, few yellow markings, 7mm	burrows, solitary	native
Ceratina calcarata	spurred ceratina	dark blue-green, 7-8mm	nests in wood, solitary	native
Ceratina dupla	doubled ceratina	dark blue-green, 6-7mm	nests in wood, solitary	native
Ceratina mikmaqi	small carpenter bee	dark blue-green, 6-8mm	nests in wood, solitary	native
Ceratina strenua	nimble ceratina	dark gold, yellow stripe on front legs, 5-6mm	nests in wood, solitary	native
Halictus confusus	sweat bee	greenish with light hairs, abdominal stripes, 7mm	nests in ground, sometimes social	native
Halictus ligatus	sweat bee	dark body with light gray hairs, 8-10mm	nests in ground or wood, social	native
Halictus parallelus	sweat bee	dark body, tan hairs, relatively dark wings, 11-13mm	nests in ground or wood	native
Halictus rubicundus	sweat bee	like H. ligatus but with more tapered head, 10-11mm	nests in ground or wood	native
Halictus tectus	sweat bee	dark body with very light hairs	nests in ground or wood	introduced
Hylaeus affinis/modestus	masked bee	black with bright yellow face and markings, 5-6mm	nests in small cavities	native
Hylaeus mesillae	mesilla masked bee	black with yellow face, 4mm	nests in small cavities	native
Lasioglossum admirandum	sweat bee	green with light hairs, 5mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum bruneri	bruner's dialictus	greenish-gold with light hairs, 6-7mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum callidum	sweat bee	dark with light hairs, 5-7mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum coreopsis	sweat bee	greenish-silver, short light hairs, 4mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum cressonii	cresson's dialictus	golden with light hairs, 6mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum ephialtum	sweat bee	dark with light hairs, 5-6mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum gotham	gotham bee	dark with light hairs, 6-7mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum hitchensi	sweat bee	green, tan hairs, 4-5mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum illinoensis	sweat bee	greenish with white hairs, 5mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum imitatum	sweat bee	metallic greenish-blue, white hairs, 4mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum lionotum	sweat bee	black, sparse white hairs, 4mm	social parasite of L. imitatum	native
Lasioglossum pilosum	sweat bee	gold, dense tan hairs, 6mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum platyparium	sweat bee	dark bluish-green, sparse hairs, 4.5-6mm	social parasite of Dialictus	native
Lasioglossum subviridatum	sweat bee	golden green, wide head+smooth thorax, 4-6mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum taylorae	sweat bee	dark green, tan hairs on legs, 5-6mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum tegulare	sweat bee	large dark tegula, greenish, pale hairs, 5mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum trigeminum	sweat bee	white hairs, bluish-green, dense hairs on face, 5-6mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum weemsi	sweat bee	round head, dull greenish, 4.5mm	nests in ground	native
Lasioglossum zephyrum	zephyr dialictus	greenish, round head, smooth thorax, 5-7mm	primitively social, in ground	native
Megachile exilis	slender resin bee	black with white hairs, 8-10mm	in wood	native
Megachile mendica	flat-tailed leaf-cutter bee	black, flattish abdomen, white hairs, 10-13mm	in wood	native
Megachile rotundata	alfalfa leaf-cutter bee	black, very narrow hair bands, 8-9mm	in wood	introduced
Melissodes trinodis	long-horned bee	brownish-black, yellow hairs, 11-12mm	in ground	native
Melitoma taurea	mallow bee	black with thick white hairs, 10-12mm	in ground?	native
Peponapis pruinosa	pruinose squash bee	white abdominal hairs, yellow on thorax, 12-14mm	in ground	native
Ptilothrix bombiformis	hibiscus bee	off-white thorax hairs, black, 13-17.5mm	in ground	native
Xylocopa virginica	eastern carpenter bee	very large, light yellow thorax hairs, black abdomen	in wood	native