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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
In or near the Lower Rio Grande Valley. These include: Andrena accepta (Cameron Co.); Andrena andrenoides (Cameron Co.); Andrena faceta (Cameron & Hidalgo Cos.); Andrena flaminea (South Texas); Andrena micheneri (Cameron Co.); Andrena nothoscordi (Cameron Co.); Andrena plebeia (Starr Co.); Andrena primulfrons (Hidalgo Co., Val Verde Co., and Nuevo León) and Andrena trapezoidea (Cameron Co.). With the exception of one undescribed species of the subgenus Andrena (Opandrena), the Andrena miserabilis shown here is the single Andrena species encountered by this website's authors in the Lower Rio Grande Valley between 2017-2023. E.T. Cresson first described Andrena miserabilis in his 1872 publication Hymenoptera texana, after examining male and female bees found in Texas. Identification Information:Most Andrena are honey-bee-sized or smaller. Andrena often look "furry" -- they have hairy thoraxes, faces and legs. The bees' faces and bodies tend to be black. Their abdomens are dark and usually striped with bands of pale hair. In South Texas, some Andrena have red or partly-red abdomens.All Andrena species share a distinctive facial characteristic: Andrena have two "sutures" (seams) under each antenna. Facial depressions called foveae rest alongside the sutures. As shown in the accompanying photographs, on female bees, the foveae are covered with hairs that are sometimes described as looking like "sideways eyebrows". The faces of male bees are covered with shaggy patches of hair. A second distinguishing Andrena trait is that female bees' scopal hairs are located on their upper hind legs; they look as if carrying pollen under their "armpits". Because Andrena are
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