You can use this Guide by browsing through the various pages organized by bee genus.  Or, you can use our species-name index or picture index and follow links to identify bees you have observed or photographed.

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This guide’s purpose is to present, through vivid and detailed photographs, bee species native to the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley.  Many of these species are rare within the United States, and very little information – photographic or written -- is widely available on them.

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The Guide’s goals are to help naturalists identify wild bee species, to provide visual records of live native bees, to record their behavior within their native habitats, and to furnish information on little-known bees’ floral preferences, flight seasons and nesting activities.  Where available, published research on unusual bee species has been summarized on the guide pages that showcase them.

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On January 15, 2019, the Guide launched with information on 40 bee species. Since then, more than a 120 species, spanning more than 45 genera, have been added to the guide, together with new information on bee behavior and floral preferences.  We welcome visitors to the area to contact us about their encounters with bees or bee nests.