Bug FAQMegachile angelarum
Megachile angelarum · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Megachilidae
Megachile angelarum is a solitary, cavity-nesting bee that lives in forests, grasslands and urban areas across western North America. Females have a parallel-sided abdomen and a full white band on the first five abdominal segments, and they resemble Megachile campanulae.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Female bees have a straight-sided abdomen and a continuous white band on tergites T1 to T5.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They occur in forests, grasslands and urban settings. Nesting sites are cavities in wood, plant stems or other sheltered spots.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
These bees are important pollinators for many plants. They collect resin and gum to construct their nests.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Megachile angelarum nests in cavities and uses resin and gum to build its brood cells. Each female builds her own nest; the species is solitary.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to southern British Columbia, Canada, and the western United States (California, Arizona, New Mexico) as well as Baja California, Mexico. Mapping shows most records in California, extending from southern British Columbia down to Tijuana, Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It most closely resembles the bee Megachile campanulae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 12 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell a female Megachile angelarum apart from other bees?
Look for a straight-sided abdomen and a full white band on the first five abdominal segments.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does Megachile angelarum live?
It is found from southern British Columbia through California, Arizona, New Mexico, and down to Baja California, Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does it nest?
It nests in cavities such as holes in wood, plant stems, or other sheltered locations.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Megachilidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megachile_angelarum
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.