Andrena prunorum
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Andrena prunorum, otherwise known as the purple miner bee, is a species of solitary bees in the family Andrenidae. It is commonly found in the continental United States as well as much of North and Central America. Andrena prunorum is a spring-flying, ground-nesting bee that serves as a ubiquitous generalist in ecological settings. Both males and females live as prepupae in the winter in which they mate, and the females seek new sites for ground burrows. From there, they construct small cells surrounding a ball of pollen combined with nectar to nourish a laid egg before each cell is sealed, and the cycle begins anew. A. prunorum generally prefer the pollen derived from Rosaceae plants but will pollinate fruit trees if given the opportunity.
A. prunorum is commonly found in much of North and Central America. The Andrenidae family was found to be the second-most represented in British Columbia. This is compounded by the finding that about 70% of the solitary bee species in eastern Canada nest in the ground. However, these findings may be unreliable as Andrena is not readily identifiable, so the isolation of A. prunorum specifically has been a vexing challenge... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Prunus Miner Bee sighting in Portland on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 214th most-seen of the 507 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Prunus Miner Bee in Portland on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months. Those are among Portland's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain a month against 250 mm in December.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Prunus Miner Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 5
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Prunus Miner Bee sightings, Portland ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Seattle (United States, about 10%) and Vancouver (Canada, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Prunus Miner Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Portland (21 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
