Rhus fairy bee
The Rhus fairy bee is a teeny tiny bee, so small that people often think it is a gnat. Boys and girls look very different: the females are mostly black, and the males are yellow with black marks and green eyes. Both have see-through white wings.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Rhus fairy bee compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its scientific name comes from the laurel sumac bush, which used to be called Rhus. Its flowers are this bee's favourite.
Unlike many fairy bees, it visits the flowers of lots of different plants.
It digs its nest in the soil, like other mining bees.
A famous bee scientist said this little bee was the insect that first made him want to study bees.
Most asked questions about Rhus fairy bee
?How big is the Rhus fairy bee?
Very small, between 2 and 10 millimetres long.
?Is the Rhus fairy bee a gnat?
No. It is a real bee, but it is so small that people often mix it up with a gnat.
?What flowers does the Rhus fairy bee like?
Clusters of small white flowers, especially laurel sumac.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Perdita rhois
- Named by
- Cockerell, 1901
- Group
- Bees and bumblebees
- Family
- Andrenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Andrenidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Perdita rhois (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by no rights reserved. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Western honey bee
Buff-tailed bumblebee
Violet carpenter bee
Giant honey bee
Wallace's giant bee
Himalayan giant honey bee
Denticulate leatherbug
Thessalian snail
Solanaceous treehopper
Beaded chestnut
Goldenrod leafminer
Ladder grasshopper