Bees of Canada Logo

Perdita pretiosa Timberlake, 1980

Properties

Scientific Name: Perdita pretiosa Timberlake, 1980

Common Name: Precious Fairy Bee

Taxonomy

Perdita pretiosa Timberlake, 1980: 29 [♀, ♂].

     Holotype ♀. CANADA, Saskatchewan, 17 miles west of Moose Jaw, 3 August 1971, by C.D. Michener, on Helianthus petiolaris [KSEM no. 1111128].

 

Taxonomic notes: This species belongs to the octomaculata group of species in Perdita s. str. (see Timberlake 1960: 1; 1962: 1, and 1980: vi).

Distribution in Canada: Timberlake 1980 [SK, type locality]; Sheffield et al. 2014 [SK]; Onuferko et al. 2023 [SK]; RAM [AB]

 

Body length: ♀ 5.5 mm ♂ 4.75 mm

Forewing length: ♀ 3.9 mm ♂ 3.7 mm

References

Sheffield CS, Frier SD, Dumesh D (2014) The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes) of the Prairies Ecozone, with comparisons to other grasslands of Canada. In: Giberson DJ, Cárcamo HA (Eds) Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands (Volume 4): Biodiversity and Systematics Part 2. 4. Biological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, 479 pp. [ISBN 978-0-9689321-7-9].https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3752/9780968932179.ch11

Onuferko TM, Buck M, Gibbs J, Sokoloff PC (2023) Asymmetric responses by bees and aculeate wasps to dune stabilisation across the southern Canadian prairies Insect Diversity and Conservation 16: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12659

Timberlake PH (1980) Supplementary studies on the systematics of the genus Perdita (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae) Part II. University of California Publications in Entomology 85: 1-65.

Sociality: Solitary
Nesting: Ground
Pollen Specialization: Narrow Oligolecty
Wintering Stage: Mature Larva

Crop Preference: Not Available
Non Crop Preference: Helianthus petiolaris

Distribution: Alberta, Saskatchewan
Ecozone: Prairie

Distribution Map