Dilemma Orchid Bee
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Everglades National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

76 Verified sightings at Everglades National Park From 2019 to 2026
76 In 1 park
December Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Dilemma Orchid Bee

Euglossa dilemma, the green orchid bee or dilemma orchid bee, is a species of solitary euglossine bee native to a broad area of Central America, and recently introduced to Florida in the United States. It was first detected in Broward County, Florida in 2003, and initially identified as Euglossa viridissima, but further study revealed that E. viridissima as previously defined consisted of two cryptic species, and the one present in Florida was new to science.

Euglossa viridissima is a species of green orchid bee from Central America in which the males have two teeth on their mandibles.α The very similar bee that was first observed in Florida in 2003 was found to have three such teeth. Sequencing data from a mitochondrial gene was unable to separate E. viridissima and E. dilemma, indicating they are closely related and form a clade within Euglossa. However, microsatellite allele frequencies varied between the two groups. Males of these bees store aromatic compounds extracted from various environmental sources in pouches on their hind legs. Certain characteristic compounds present as main ingredients in these perfumes in E. dilemma were found to be absent in E. viridissima... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Santo Domingo 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~10%
2 Orlando 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Miami 🇺🇸 United States
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Dilemma Orchid Bee in Everglades National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dilemma Orchid Bee sighting in Everglades National Park on a given day, based on 76 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 56th most-seen of the 496 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Dilemma Orchid Bee in Everglades National Park?

August–September and November–January

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dilemma Orchid Bee in Everglades National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February–July and October, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Dilemma Orchid Bee?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dilemma Orchid Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Dilemma Orchid Bee?

Only Everglades National Park, in our data

Everglades National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Dilemma Orchid Bee sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Which relatives of the Dilemma Orchid Bee live in Everglades National Park?

Same family: Apidae

The closest relatives of the Dilemma Orchid Bee that you can see in Everglades National Park (family Apidae, Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies) are Southern Carpenter Bee (about 30%), Eastern Carpenter Bee (about 10%) and American Bumble Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Dilemma Orchid Bee sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Dilemma Orchid Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Everglades National Park (76 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.

← Back to Everglades National Park