The Pallid Bee is a large, robust solitary bee of the Sonoran Desert with cream-yellow and black patterning. Males dig up unmated females from their underground pupal cells and compete frantically in scramble competition before females even emerge. Females provision deep underground nests with desert plant oils mixed with pollen. It is a key pollinator of palo verde and other desert trees.
Habitat
Sonoran Desert and adjacent arid areas with palo verde
Diet
Adults: pollen, nectar, and floral oils. Larvae: pollen and oil provisions
How common
Common
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