California's State Bee: Winner
California Fairy Bee (Perdita californica)
Votes are in!!! The winner is the California Fairy Bee (Perdita californica). This small bee is a specialist on mariposa lily flowers and can be found along the coast of California (and not many other places).
With your help, the California Native Bee Society launched a statewide effort to select a State Bee that represents our remarkable native pollinators. California is home to more than 1,600 bee species and so it was quite a process to select just one. We accepted nominations, organized voting, spread the word, and you all came through and voted! Next steps are working with State Legislators to make the designation official.
Bee Family: Andrenidae
California Fairy Bee
(Perdita californica)
Diet: Specialist on mariposa lily (Calochortus spp.) flowers
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 6 mm long
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: Endemic to California and Baja California
Blennosperma Mining Bee
(Andrena blennospermatis)
Diet: Specialist on Blennosperma flowers
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 7-9 mm long
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: California and Baja California endemic
Cherry Plum Mining Bee
(Andrena cerasifolii)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 10-13 mm long
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs and on specialized hairs on the back of the thorax
Range: Western North America, widespread across California
Golden-haired Mining Bee
(Andrena auricoma)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 8-10 mm long
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows dug in bare soil
Pollen transport: On the hind legs and on specialized hairs on the back of the thorax
Range: Western North America, widespread across much of California
Bee Family: Apidae
California Bumble Bee
(Bombus californicus) – May be synonymous with Bombus fervidus
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Social, living in annual colonies
Size: 10-26 mm long, depending on caste
Nesting strategy: Underground cavities, often abandoned rodent burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs in “pollen baskets” (corbicula)
Range: Western North America
Note: This species is currently under taxonomic review, and may be combined with Bombus fervidus, making the name B. californicus outdated
Fog-belt Bumble Bee
(Bombus caliginosus)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Social, living in annual colonies
Size: 10-26 mm long, depending on caste
Nesting strategy: Underground cavities, often abandoned rodent burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs in “pollen baskets” (corbicula)
Range: Western North America along the coast
Crotch’s Bumble Bee
(Bombus crotchii)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Social, living in annual colonies
Size: 14-24 mm long, depending on caste
Nesting strategy: Underground cavities, often abandoned rodent burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs in “pollen baskets” (corbicula)
Range: Endemic to California and Baja California
Black-tailed Bumble Bee
(Bombus melanopygus)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Social, living in annual colonies
Size: 10-21 mm long, depending on caste
Nesting strategy: Underground cavities, often abandoned rodent burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs in “pollen baskets” (corbicula)
Range: Western North America
Yellow-faced Bumble Bee
(Bombus vosnesenskii)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Social, living in annual colonies
Size: 8-21 mm long, depending on caste
Nesting strategy: Underground cavities, often abandoned rodent burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs in “pollen baskets” (corbicula)
Range: Western North America, especially in California, Oregon, and Washington
Cactus Chimney Bee
(Diadasia australis)
Diet: Specialist on cactus flowers
Sociality: Solitary, often nesting in dense aggregations
Size: 10-15 mm
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows with soil chimneys
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: Western North America wherever their host plant cactus (Opuntia, Cylindropuntia spp.) occurs
Bindweed Turret Bee
(Diadasia bituberculata)
Diet: Specialist on bindweeds and morning glories (Convolvulaceae)
Sociality: Solitary, often nesting in aggregations
Size: 10-15 mm
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows with soil chimneys
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: Western North America, mostly restricted to California
Dimorphic Mountain Digger Bee
(Habropoda tristissima)
Diet: Generalist, favoring spring wildflowers
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 10-21 mm
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: Western North America, especially in California
Valley Carpenter Bee
(Xylocopa sonorina)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Quasi-social, meaning there is parental care and overlapping generations in a nest, with reproductive division of labor, but not formalized castes like honey bees.
Nesting strategy: Tunnels excavated in wood
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: Across the desert southwest, and introduced to the Pacific Islands and tropical regions
Foothill Carpenter Bee
(Xylocopa tabaniformis ssp. orpifex)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Quasi-social, meaning there is parental care and overlapping generations in a nest, with reproductive division of labor, but not formalized castes like honey bees.
Nesting strategy: Tunnels excavated in dead wood
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: Western North America, especially Oregon, California, and Baja California
Bee Family: Halictidae
Fine Striped Sweat Bee
(Agapostemon subtilior)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Solitary, sometimes nesting in large aggregations–like a single apartment in an apartment complex!
Size: ~10 mm long
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows
Pollen transport: On the hind legs
Range: Widespread across western North America
Peridot Sweat Bee
(Augochlorella pomoniella)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Flexible eusocial
Size: 7-9 mm long
Nesting strategy: Underground burrows
Pollen transport: On hind legs
Range: Common in western North America
Bee Family: Megachilidae
Spotted Woolcarder Bee
(Anthidium maculosum)
Diet: Generalist, though floral records suggest that they have a slight preference for flowers in the legume family, such as the genus Lotus (Acmispon).
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 8-13 mm
Nesting strategy: Build nests out of plant resin and other gathered materials
Pollen transport: On the underside of the abdomen
Range: Widespread across western North America
Horn-faced Leafcutter Bee
(Megachile fidelis)
Diet: Generalist, but often found on sunflowers (Helianthus spp.)
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 11-13 mm
Nesting strategy: Renters in pre-existing cavities
Pollen transport: On the underside of the abdomen
Range: Western North America
Silver-tailed Petal-Cutter Bee
(Megachile montivaga)
Diet: Generalist
Sociality: Solitary
Size: 11-13 mm
Nesting strategy: Renters in pre-existing cavities or underground in soil
Pollen transport: On the underside of the abdomen
Range: Widespread across North America