Desert Digger Bee vs Chinese Windmill Butterfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Desert Digger Bee Chinese Windmill Butterfly
Scientific Name Centris pallida Byasa alcinous
Order Hymenoptera Lepidoptera
Family Apidae Papilionidae
Size 15-22 mm Wingspan 75-95 mm
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Forests
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions North America China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Desert Digger Bee

A large, fuzzy solitary bee of the Sonoran Desert that nests in burrows in hard-packed soil. Males patrol nesting areas and dig up emerging females to mate.

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Did You Know?

Males locate females still underground by detecting their scent through the soil surface.

Chinese Windmill Butterfly

A dark swallowtail with red-spotted hindwings that rotates its wings in a slow windmill-like pattern during flight. It is widespread in East Asian lowland forests.

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Did You Know?

Its distinctive slow, spinning flight style gives it the common name windmill butterfly.