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Centris pallida is a species of solitary bee native to North America.It lacks an accepted common name; however, it has been called the digger bee, the desert bee, and the pallid bee due to its actions, habitat, and color respectively.
The solitary bee is a major pollinator in Georgia, and its ground nest holds its single egg. Campbell Vaughn: Solitary bees digging in the dirt are a sign of spring Skip to main content
They are generally large (up to 3 cm), very robust, hairy bees, with visibly protruding faces, and the apical portion of the wings are studded with microscopic papillae. The abdomen is often banded, and in many Old World species of Amegilla, these bands are metallic blue. The wings often appear disproportionately short compared to other bees.
Instead, all female ground bees are fertile and also serve as worker bees, building burrows and collecting food. During mating season, each female will dig a burrow at least 6 inches deep.
This bee species practices solitary nesting, though often the nests are clustered close together. [8] An active nesting colony may contain up to 10,000 burrows. [3] The female bee builds her nest by digging straight down into clay, or other densely packed soil and dirt. She will dig to depths between 15 and 35 centimeters. [8]
Female X. virginica. The bee is similar in size to bumblebees, but has a glossy, mostly black body with a slight metallic purple tint. [4] X. virginica males and females have generally the same mass, but can be differentiated visually by the male's longer body and the female's wider head.
They are solitary bees and do not form colonies, every female takes care of her own larvae. The females lay their eggs in nests in tunnels usually excavated by themselves in loose soils. In the cells they store pollen and nectar as food for the larvae. The larvae pupate in Autumn and emerge as adult bees in March.
The Andrenidae (commonly known as mining bees) are a large, nearly cosmopolitan family of solitary, ground-nesting bees. Most of the family's diversity is located in temperate or arid areas (warm temperate xeric). It includes some enormous genera (e.g., Andrena with over 1300 species, and Perdita with over 700).