Best Wild Pollinator

Bombus affinis, the rusty patched bumblebee, is a North American pollinator that became the first bee species in the continental United States to be declared endangered.

Perdita minima is a solitary fairy bee native to the southwestern United States, holding the distinction of being the smallest bee species in the world at 2 millimeters.

Xylocopa varipuncta, the valley carpenter bee, is a large North American insect noted for its extreme sexual dimorphism, featuring a golden-brown male and black female.

The spined mason bee (Osmia spinulosa) is a European solitary bee uniquely notable for nesting inside empty snail shells, which it seals with chewed leaves to protect its offspring.

Centris pallida, the mesquite bee, is a solitary desert species in the American Southwest notable for digging deep nests in the sand to provision its young with mesquite pollen.

Native to the American Southwest, the Cactus Diadasia Bee is a solitary desert insect that serves as the primary and most effective pollinator of native cactus flowers.

The Pure Green Sweat Bee is a striking, bright metallic green insect widespread across eastern North America, where it excavates solitary nests inside rotting wooden logs.

Endemic to Europe, the Macropis Yellow-loosestrife Bee is a specialist pollinator uniquely adapted to collect floral oils from Lysimachia plants to line its nest cells.

The Bicolored Sweat Bee is a common North American pollinator notable for its bright green head and thorax, which contrast sharply against its distinct yellow abdomen.

Colletes hederae, the ivy mining bee, is a late-flying European species first described in 1937 that strictly forages on the nectar of blooming ivy plants.

The striped sweat bee (Agapostemon splendens) is a North American halictid bee notable for its bright metallic green coloration and its attraction to human sweat for salts.

Andrena cineraria is a Palearctic mining bee commonly known for its striking black and grey appearance, often nesting in large aggregations in sandy soils.

Centris trigonoides is a solitary bee native to the Americas, uniquely adapted to collect floral oils from plants using specialized absorbent hairs on its legs to feed its larvae.

Colletes inaequalis, the cellophane bee, is an early spring pollinator native to North America famous for lining its underground nests with a clear, waterproof film.

Augochlorella aurata, commonly called the metallic sweat bee, is a widespread North American pollinator easily identified by its brilliant, shiny green or copper exoskeleton.

The Bellflower Resin Bee (Megachile campanulae) is a solitary bee native to North America, notable for using plant resins and petals rather than cut leaves to construct its nests.

Wild bergamot beebalm is a flowering wildflower found across prairies and meadows. It belongs to the mint family and features fragrant leaves valued for traditional medicinal purposes by Native American communities. The plant’s purple blossoms are particularly attractive to pollinators like bees, pl...

The Globe Mallow Bee is a solitary ground-nesting insect native to North America, uniquely distinguished by its strict oligolectic diet of pollen from globe mallow plants.

Eucera longicornis, a European long-horned bee, is currently endangered in the United Kingdom due to habitat loss and its strict reliance on specific legume flowers.

Agapostemon angelicus, known as the Texas striped sweat bee, is a southwestern United States pollinator noted for the males' striking metallic green thorax and yellow-banded abdomen.

Bombus ternarius, the orange-belted bumblebee, is a distinctly colored North American species characterized by its striking yellow, orange, and black abdominal bands.

Augochloropsis metallica, the golden sweat bee, is a Neotropical halictid species extending into the southern United States, recognized by its striking metallic green or gold sheen.

Halictus ligatus, or the ligated furrow bee, is a common North American sweat bee known for its primitively eusocial behavior and nesting in bare or sparsely vegetated soil.

Bombus cullumanus, or Cullum's bumblebee, is a critically endangered European species that has experienced a severe population decline and is now extremely rare.

Xylocopa sonorina, the Sonoran carpenter bee, is a large solitary insect first described in 1874, recognized for its loud buzzing and habit of burrowing into wood.

Xylocopa micans, a large carpenter bee found in the southeastern United States, is notable for the females' shiny black coloring and their ability to bore nests into solid wood.

Megachile xylocopoides is a North American leafcutter bee notable for its striking physical resemblance to large carpenter bees, an evolutionary trait designed to deter predators.

Native to North America, the Pugnacious Leafcutter Bee is a solitary pollinator notable for using cut leaf fragments to construct its ground or wood-tunnel nests.

The Digger Bee is a solitary species found across the western United States, highly notable for excavating deep vertical nesting burrows directly into sandy desert soils.