Denticulate Longhorn Bee

Melissodes denticulatus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae

Also called: Denticulate Long-horned Bee

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Denticulate Longhorn Bee
Photo: Healthy Yards, CC BY

It is found in North America. It is often seen around ironweed, which helps tell it apart from other Melissodes bees.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

It belongs to the long-horned bee group in the Apidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is commonly found near ironweed plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range includes North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Its association with ironweed makes it easier to distinguish from other Melissodes species.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 34 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia, New York, District of Columbia, Kansas, Virginia.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Denticulate Longhorn Bee photo 3
Photo: er-birds, CC BY
Denticulate Longhorn Bee photo 4
Photo: unknown, CC0
Denticulate Longhorn Bee photo 5
Photo: Healthy Yards, CC BY
Denticulate Longhorn Bee photo 6
Photo: Amy Schnebelin, CC BY

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/Melissodes_denticulatus

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.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.