Hawthorn Andrena

Transcont. in southern Canada (N. S. to B. C.) and northern U. S., south to Ga., Ala., Ark., Tex., N. Mex., Utah, Nev. and north. Calif. with a hiatus in the Great Plains states from North Dakota to Texas. Recorded from: B.C., N.S., Ont., Que., Ala., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N. Mex., N.Y., N.C., N. Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S. Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W. Va., Wis., and Wyo.).

This communal North American bee lives in underground nests which females may use over multiple years. Nests can reach a depth of 60cm and 40 or more females may be found living in one nest. Males emerge from the nest first in the Spring, females about a week later. Mating pairs can be found near nest sites, often on flowers. Females then spend 1-2 months collecting pollen, which they bring back to the nest to provision the cells where their offspring are developing. The nests are sometimes also occupied by other bees (eg: Nomada cressonii) and parasitic Bombyliid flies. (Osgood, 1989)

The hawthorn miner bee (Andrena crataegi) is a species of miner bee in the family Andrenidae which is in the order Hymenoptera ("ants, bees, wasps and sawflies"). Another common name for this species is hawthorn andrena. It is found in North America.