Centris caesalpiniae

Centris caesalpiniae is a solitary centridine bee in the family Apidae, sometimes called the Caesalpinia oil-digger. Cockerell described it in 1897.

Recorded range includes Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona in the United States, plus Chihuahua and Sonora in Mexico. It is associated with dry and desert habitats rather than a honeybee-style colony.

Oil-collecting Centris females use floral oils in brood-cell provisions and in nest construction, often mixing the oil with pollen or nectar. Their oil-collecting adaptations are one reason the genus is important in specialized plant-pollinator relationships.

The type series came from Las Cruces, New Mexico, where the bees were collected at flowers of Caesalpinia falcaria. That plant genus is reflected in the species name caesalpiniae.