Anthophora terminalis (orange-tipped wood-digger bee)
Photo: Orange-tipped wood-digger bee, Summer 2025
Ecological role
Pollinator of deep flowers. With a long tongue and hovering flight, it’s frequently seen working tubular blooms (think beardtongues, bergamots, and lobelias).
Generalist forager with strong tube preferences. Documented plants include wood-mints (Blephilia spp.), American germander (Teucrium canadense), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium), penstemons (Penstemon spp.), wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), waterleaf (Hydrophyllum appendiculatum), and pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata).
Life cycle & behavior
Voltinity & timing. Usually univoltine; adults fly mid-summer (North). Overwinters as prepupae in the natal cell.
Nesting substrates. Females excavate above-ground nests in dead wood and pithy stems (e.g., sumac; also driftwood, logs). Brood cells are partitioned and plugged with chewed wood pulp/sawdust, a hallmark of subgenus Clisodon. Nests may also appear in trap-/bee-hotel holes.
Entrance sizes (for bee hotels). Successfully used hole diameters are about 6–8 mm (¼–5/16 in.).
Photo: Orange-tipped wood-digger bee found on Anise Hyssop, Summer 2025
Identification quick notes
Compact, fuzzy bee; males often golden-haired with pale face; females show thin pale abdominal hair bands and a sometimes visible orange tip to the abdomen (easiest to glimpse when she’s buried in a tubular flower). Quick, hovering flight.
Best native plants to support it (Chicago-area friendly)
Prioritize native tubular blooms from late spring through late summer, drawing from these documented favorites:
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata, for wet spots)
(For northern/western plantings, additional recorded hosts include Astragalus alpinus and Hedysarum spp., reflecting its broad range.)
Photo: Orange-tipped wood-digger bee found on Anise Hyssop, Summer 2025
Yard/habitat tips
Leave stems & soft wood. Retain some last year’s hollow/pithy stems (e.g., sumac) at 12–24″ height and stash short pieces of soft, weathered wood in a sunny, sheltered spot. This species can also use bee-hotel blocks with 6–8 mm holes; don’t use plastic; keep blocks dry.
Stage bloom. Combine early- to late-season tubular natives so there’s constant nectar/pollen during June–August flight.
Skip pesticides. As with all solitary bees, avoid insecticides on or near blooms. (General best practice for conserving native bees.)
Expect low-key numbers. Often present but not in big swarms; individuals zip between flowers and perches.
