Bug FAQMāori Masked Bee
Hylaeus relegatus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Colletidae
Females are 6.5 to 9.1 mm long and males 5.7 to 7.7 mm. Adults are on the wing from November through April.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Females can vary in facial colour; some from the Three Kings Islands lack the usual yellow markings. Males have an almost entirely yellow face except for a black lower margin.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Female length ranges from 6.5 to 9.1 mm. Male length ranges from 5.7 to 7.7 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
Lack of suitable nest sites may limit their numbers in some areas. They often occupy artificial nest sites.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Providing human-made nest sites could boost their populations.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They bore nesting cells into wood, dead branches, or flax flower stalks. Human-made nest sites are frequently used and may help increase their numbers. A shortage of nest sites is thought to limit their local populations.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Females provision nest cells with pollen for the larvae. They use a wide variety of host plant species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Larvae develop on the pollen stored by the female. Larvae can be attacked by Gasteruption wasps.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active from November to April.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is endemic to New Zealand.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Females may lack yellow facial markings on the Three Kings Islands. Males are 5.7 to 7.7 mm long with a mostly yellow face except a black lower margin.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What size are Hylaeus relegatus bees?
Females are 6.5 to 9.1 mm long and males are 5.7 to 7.7 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
What kind of nests do they use?
They bore cells into wood, dead branches or flax stalks and often use artificial nest sites.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Colletidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylaeus_relegatus
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.