Bug FAQAzalea Mining Bee
Andrena cornelli · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Andrenidae
Also called: Azalea Andrena, Azalea Miner
The Azalea Mining Bee is the only bee that specializes in gathering pollen from azalea (Rhododendron) plants, and it has widely spaced scopa hairs that can hold this type of pollen. It lives in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It has widely spaced scopa hairs that can carry azalea pollen, a trait unique among bees that specialize on these plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It feeds exclusively on pollen from azalea (Rhododendron) species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 16 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Delaware.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants does the Azalea Mining Bee visit?
It collects pollen only from azalea (Rhododendron) plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Andrenidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrena_cornelli
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.