Common name: Yellow-faced bee, mesilla masked bee
Scientific name: Hylaeus mesillae ssp. cressoni
How to identify them
This tiny bee is slender and looks somewhat like a wasp with very little hair on the abdomen. It is black with yellow markings on the face, legs, and thorax. The photo above shows a female bee. Female bees (about 1/6”) are larger than male bees (about 1/8”) and have smaller, triangular markings on their faces. The wings are clear but can also be smoky-colored with reddish brown veins running through them.
Where they live
Yellow-faced bees live mostly in prairies, meadows, and abandoned crop fields.
What they eat
The yellow-faced bee doesn't have pollen-collecting body parts. It carries pollen and nectar in its stomach.
How they reproduce
Yellow-faced bees are solitary bees. They lay their eggs in the pithy stems of woody plants, like sumac and elderberry. They deposit pollen and nectar for the larvae to eat.
Did you know?
Yellow-faced bees have short tongues. This would usually mean that they wouldn’t be able to reach the nectar in deep-throated flowers. However, their small size comes in handy. They can crawl right into the flower to feed!