Black Orchid bee

Eulaema nigrita · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Black Orchid bee
Photo: Insects Unlocked, CC0

The black orchid bee is a large-bodied member of the orchid bee tribe. It nests in existing cavities and lives from Costa Rica down to northern Argentina.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

It is commonly called the black orchid bee.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

It is a large-bodied bee.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It nests in pre-existing cavities.

Source: Wikipedia

Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist

More photos

Black Orchid bee photo 3
Photo: Insects Unlocked, CC0
Black Orchid bee photo 4
Photo: Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil from Brazil, CC BY 2.0
Black Orchid bee photo 5
Photo: Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil from Brazil, CC BY 2.0

Same family (Apidae)

Western Honey BeeWestern Honey BeeApis melliferaCan stingCommon Eastern Bumble BeeCommon Eastern Bumble BeeBombus impatiensCan stingEastern Carpenter BeeEastern Carpenter BeeXylocopa virginicaCan stingBrown-belted Bumble BeeBrown-belted Bumble BeeBombus griseocollisCommon Carder Bumble BeeCommon Carder Bumble BeeBombus pascuorumBuff-tailed Bumble BeeBuff-tailed Bumble BeeBombus terrestris

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eulaema_nigrita

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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