The Asian shaggy digger bee is a fuzzy, fast-flying spring bee native to East Asia, including Japan and Korea. It was brought from Japan to the eastern U.S. in the 1980s as a possible blueberry and apple pollinator, and although it never caught on as a farm bee, it has become established in Maryland and is spreading from the Washington, D.C., area.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A stout, densely hairy bee. Females are noticeably heavier than males.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Cities and suburbs
- Gardens
- Bare dry soil
- Range
- Native to East Asia, including Japan and Korea. In the U.S. it is established in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., area, and has been spreading from there.
- Preferred conditions
- Favors urban areas. In spring it nests in dry dirt under decks, in the soil of upturned root masses, and even in the earthen plaster of strawbale houses, sometimes in large numbers.
Behavior
- Diet
- Collects pollen and nectar from many kinds of flowers and can buzz flowers to shake pollen loose. In U.S. neighborhoods it visits garden flowers, especially azaleas, and tends to favor non-native plantings.
- Activity
- Active once a year in spring. It is unusually tolerant of cool, rainy weather and, in good weather, forages from before dawn until after dusk. It flies fast and can forage up to about 1,600 ft (500 m) from the nest.
- Social life
- A solitary bee: each female builds her own nest, though many nest close together. It is gentle. Males defend territories.
- Overwintering
- The new generation reaches adulthood inside the cells by fall and spends the winter there as adults.
Life cycle
- Nest
- Each female digs a burrow and builds a short row of urn-shaped cells, lining them with a waxy secretion. One female may build several nests.
Name and classification
- About the name
- It was once treated as a subspecies of the European hairy-footed flower bee (A. plumipes) and has also been called Anthophora pilipes villosula. It is now considered its own species.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Threats
- How it competes with native U.S. bees is still unknown.
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