Insects › Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies

Eastern Thistle Longhorn Bee

Melissodes desponsus

Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in Ontario.January 72, February 74, March 116, April 228, May 438, June 205, July 256, August 282, September 147, October 120, November 75, December 67.
United States7,931
Canada2,009
Ontario1,835
New York1,286
Pennsylvania1,099
Michigan676
Illinois672
Maryland650
Virginia649
Missouri434

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Behavioral

  • EusocialLives in colonies with division of labor and cooperative brood careFrom its classification

Physical

  • ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification

Practical

  • StingingCan deliver a painful stingFrom its classification

Group and habits

  • Animal pollinatorDescends from an animal lineage whose members commonly pollinate flowers.Inferred from its group

Classification

KingdomAnimals · Animalia
PhylumArthropods · Arthropoda
ClassInsects · Insecta
OrderAnts, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies · Hymenoptera
FamilyHoney Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies · Apidae
GenusMelissodes

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise Eastern Thistle Longhorn Bee with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.