Hawaiian Yellow-faced Bee vs Steel-blue Cricket Hunter

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Hawaiian Yellow-faced Bee Steel-blue Cricket Hunter
Scientific Name Hylaeus longiceps Chlorion aerarium
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Colletidae Sphecidae
Size 7-10 mm 18-28 mm
Habitat Beaches & Coastal Deserts & Drylands
Diet Nectar Feeders Predators
Regions Oceania (Hawaii) North America
Conservation Endangered Least Concern

Hawaiian Yellow-faced Bee

An endemic Hawaiian bee with distinctive yellow facial markings, found in dry coastal and lowland habitats. It nests in hollow plant stems and beetle borings. Hawaiian Hylaeus are the only bees native to the Hawaiian Islands.

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Did You Know?

Hawaiian yellow-faced bees were the first bees in the United States to be listed under the Endangered Species Act, in 2016.

Steel-blue Cricket Hunter

A large metallic blue wasp that hunts field crickets and mole crickets. It drags paralyzed prey into burrows to provision its nest cells.

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Did You Know?

It enters cricket burrows headfirst to sting and extract its prey from underground.