Desert Digger Bee vs Pasimachus Flat Ground Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Desert Digger Bee Pasimachus Flat Ground Beetle
Scientific Name Centris pallida Pasimachus depressus
Order Hymenoptera Coleoptera
Family Apidae Carabidae
Size 15-22 mm 22-30 mm
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Deserts & Drylands
Diet Nectar Feeders Predators
Regions North America Southeastern United States
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.

💡

Did You Know?

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

Pasimachus Flat Ground Beetle

A large, broad, flattened shiny black beetle with massive mandibles and distinctive blue-margined elytra. It is one of the most imposing ground beetles in North America.

💡

Did You Know?

Its immensely powerful mandibles can easily pierce through the tough exoskeleton of other beetles, and it has been observed killing and eating June bugs and other scarabs.