Hawaiian Easy Yellow-faced Bee vs Slave-Maker Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Hawaiian Easy Yellow-faced Bee Slave-Maker Ant
Scientific Name Hylaeus facilis Temnothorax americanus
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Colletidae Formicidae
Size 6-9 mm 2-3 mm
Habitat Farmland Farmland
Diet Pollen Feeders Omnivores
Regions Oceania (Hawaii) Eastern North America
Conservation Endangered Least Concern

Hawaiian Easy Yellow-faced Bee

An endemic Hawaiian bee found across several of the main Hawaiian islands. It is a generalist pollinator that visits a variety of native and non-native flowers. Like other Hawaiian Hylaeus, it carries pollen internally in its crop rather than on external body hairs.

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Did You Know?

Unlike most bees, Hawaiian yellow-faced bees swallow pollen and carry it in their crop, regurgitating it to provision their nest cells.

Slave-Maker Ant

A tiny North American slave-making ant that raids colonies of closely related Temnothorax species. Workers have saber-like mandibles used in raids. Enslaved workers eventually perform all domestic tasks while raiders focus solely on conducting new raids.

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Did You Know?

Enslaved Temnothorax workers sometimes rebel by destroying the slave-maker brood they are supposed to rear, reducing the raiding colony's future workforce.