Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Cuckoo Bees (Nomadinae) » Nomad Bees (Nomadini)

Tribe Nomadini - Nomad Bees

Bee - Nomada maculata Apidae, Cuckoo Bee, Nomada ID please - Nomada vegana Black and White on Rabbitbrush - Nomada mutans - female Nomada genus bee? - Nomada - male Nomadinae - Cuckoo Bees Nomada - Nomad Bees - Nomada Nomada? - Nomada Trigonaloidea species?? - Nomada Nomada sp - Nomada
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Apidae (Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees)
Subfamily Nomadinae (Cuckoo Bees)
Tribe Nomadini (Nomad Bees)
Numbers
a single genus, with >280 spp. in our area, >700 spp. total(1)
Identification
Mandible and eye are not aligned. The eye is slightly back from being centered over the mandible base.(2)

- the offset is very prominent with the mandible in use.

The apex of the marginal cell

is sharply pointed and ends on the wing margin. There is usually 3 submarginal cells with #3 being shortest of the others. A few species have only 2 submarginal cells.(2)
Food
A cleptoparasite. Frequently parasitizing Andrena.(2)
Works Cited
1.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
2.The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees.
Joseph S. Wilson & Olivia J. Messinger Carril. 2015. Princeton University Press.
Contributed by John S. Ascher on 11 August, 2013 - 5:05am
Additional contributions by JohnMaxwell22, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 12 February, 2017 - 12:26pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo