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Andrena fulgida
Common Name: Mining Bee
Authority: LaBerge
Traits
Solitary
Tongue: Short
Nesting Substrates
Ground
[source]
Assessment
Date: 6/26/2025
Justification:
Andrena fulgida is a solitary bee species known from just five observations from five different localities. Using all observations of the species the extent of occurrence (EOO) is 613,631 km2. There is a low degree of confidence in this metric, as it is constructed with just five data points, three of which are 75 years old or older. The ecology and habitat of this species is not well understood. Across the range of this species, impacts from habitat degradation and loss, climate change, and exposure to pesticides have been observed. These threats may be acting on the species at local levels. RANK SENTENCE
Distribution
EOO:Unknown
AOO:20.00 km²
Map Notes:This map was created by displaying all records as points.
Population
Trend:Unknown
Generation Length:1.00 years
Habitats and Ecology
Food habits comment: There is not enough information about this species to understand its dietary breadth. There are no floral records associated with this species.
Habitat comment: This species has been recorded in deciduous forest and pasture land between 48 and 225 m, but its habitat requirements are not well understood.
Reproduction comment: This species likely nests underground like all other Andrena (Danforth et al. 2019), but nests from this species have not been described. Nest cells from other members of this genus are located at the ends of the lateral burrows, which are typically lined with a waxy Dufour’s gland secretion (Cane 1981) that serves to both isolate the provision from pathogens in the surrounding soil and to regulate water uptake from the soil atmosphere (Cane and Love 2021). Females provision each cell with a ball of pollen moistened with nectar on which they lay a single egg (Michener 2007).
Phenology comment: Records of this species come from July and August (Chesshire et al. 2023). Adults are assumed to emerge annually (Danforth et al. 2019).
Habitat Types
Use and Trade
This species is not known to be utilized commercially.
Threats
Threat comments:
Specific threats to this species have not been investigated. Certain aspects of this species' biology may make it more vulnerable to some threats. Andrena fulgida is a ground nesting species, and nests may be harmed by certain agricultural practices such as tilling, which can kill bees nesting close to the surface (Williams et al. 2010). This species is a dietary specialist, which has been linked to higher risk of extinction due to reduced host plant availability, especially under climate change scenarios (Roberts et al. 2011) and reduced effective population sizes (Packer et al. 2005). Additionally, Andrena have been reported to have low reproductive output because of the short adult life span, and a low rate of brood cell provisioning (reviewed in Danforth et al. 2019). Other threats to bees generally include habitat loss or modification, climate change, pesticide use, exposure to pathogens from managed bee species, and competition with honey bees (Brown and Paxton 2009; Potts et al. 2010; Wojcik et al. 2018; Grab et al. 2019; Raven and Wagner 2021).
Threats Threats:
1. Residential & commercial development -> 1.1. Housing & urban areas
1. Residential & commercial development -> 1.2. Commercial & industrial areas
2. Agriculture & aquaculture -> 2.1. Annual & perennial non-timber crops -> 2.1.3. Agro-industry farming
7. Natural system modifications -> 7.1. Fire & fire suppression -> 7.1.1.Increase in fire frequency/intensity
7. Natural system modifications -> 7.1. Fire & fire suppression -> 7.1.2. Suppression in fire frequency/intensity
8. Invasive and other problematic species, genes, and diseases -> 8.1 Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases -> 8.1.2. Named species
9. Pollution -> 9.3 Agricultural and forestry effluents -> 9.3.3 Herbicides and Pesticides
11. Climate change & severe weather -> 11.1. Habitat shifting & alteration
11. Climate change & severe weather -> 11.2.Droughts
11. Climate change & severe weather -> 11.3.Temperature extremes
Conservation Actions
Conservation needs
No known conservation actions are in place for this species.
Protected/Managed area comment: There are no observations of this species from any federally managed land.
Management comment: Specific conservation needs for this species have not been identified. Due to the importance of supporting wild bee populations for pollination services, general conservation practices are recommended including, restoring, creating, and preserving natural high-quality habitats to include suitable forage and nesting sites; limiting pesticide use on or near suitable habitat, particularly during the adult bee’s flight period; promoting farming and urban practices that increase pollinator-friendly plants in margin space; minimizing exposure of wild bees to diseases transferred from managed bees; and lastly, avoiding honey bee introduction to high-quality native bee habitat.
Conservation Actions Needed
1. Land/water protection -> 1.2. Resource & habitat protection
2. Land/water management -> 2.3. Habitat & natural process restoration
4. Education & awareness -> 4.3. Awareness & communications
5. Law & policy -> 5.2. Policies and regulations
Research needs
Research need comment: More information is needed about the population status, population trend, existing threats, range limits, habitat, and ecology of this species. Surveys targeting this species are needed throughout its range to determine its persistence throughout its historic range.
Research Needed
1. Research -> 1.2. Population size, distribution & trends
1.3. Life History and Ecology
1.5. Threats
1.6 Conservation actions
3. Monitoring -> 3.1. Population trends
3.4. Habitat trends
Assessment
Date of assessment (month-day-year): 6-26-2025
Assessors names (use * to indicate primary assessor, typically the participant with most experience/knowledge of the species): Saff Killingsworth
Reviewer(s):
Contributors(s): For a full list of the 162 institutions that contributed to the Chesshire et al. dataset, please see Chesshire et al. 2023, S1.
Facilitator(s) and compiler(s): Paige R. Chesshire, Erica E. Fischer, Nicolas J. Dowdy, Terry L. Griswold, Alice C. Hughes, Michael C. Orr, John S. Ascher, Laura M. Guzman, Keng-Lou James Hung, Neil S. Cobb and Lindsie M. McCabe
Red List Category and Criteria: Needs Rank
Justification:
Andrena fulgida is a solitary bee species known from just five observations from five different localities. Using all observations of the species the extent of occurrence (EOO) is 613,631 km2. There is a low degree of confidence in this metric, as it is constructed with just five data points, three of which are 75 years old or older. The ecology and habitat of this species is not well understood. Across the range of this species, impacts from habitat degradation and loss, climate change, and exposure to pesticides have been observed. These threats may be acting on the species at local levels. RANK SENTENCE
Rank reasons
This species is a solitary bee that is known from just five observations from five different localities. Using all observations of the species the range extent is 613,631 km2. There is a low degree of confidence in this metric, as it is constructed with just five data points, three of which are 75 years old or older. The ecology and habitat of this species is not well understood. Across the range of this species, impacts from habitat degradation and loss, climate change, and exposure to pesticides have been observed. These threats may be acting on the species at local levels.Number of localities, specific threats, projected decline. Therefore, this species is likely/unlikely to be threatened with extinction at this time.
NatureServe Specific Text (NOT OTHERWISE INCLUDED IN ABOVE TEXT):
For Rank Calculator:
1. Element occurrences (using separation distance of 5,000 m): 2 (A)
1. Estimated Number of Element Occurrences Comments: Using all records from the last 30 years (since 1995), this species is known from just 2 occurrences using a 5 km separation distance. There are only five element occurrences of this species from all time.
2. Population size: Unknown
3. Viability/Ecological integrity (choose one)
1. Number of occurrences with good viability/ecological integrity: Unknown
2. Percent of area occupied (For Species with Known AOO): N/A
4. Environmental Specificity: Unknown
1. Environmental specificity comments: There is no available information on the habitat and ecology of this species, although it may have specific environmental requirements that are not yet well understood.
5. Intrinsic Vulnerability: B. Moderately vulnerable
1. Intrinsic vulnerability comments: Andrena have been reported to have low reproductive output because of the short adult life span, and a low rate of brood cell provisioning (reviewed in Danforth et al. 2019).
6. Trend
1. Short Term Trend: Unknown
2. Comments: Abundance estimates and population trends are not known for this species.
3. Long Term Trend: Unknown
4. Comments: Abundance estimates and population trends are not known for this species.
For Biotics Global Element Characterization:
1. Habitat
Forest-Hardwood, Cropland/Hedgerow
2. Food Habits
1. Adult: nectarivore
2. Immature: nectarivore
Literature References:
Brown, Mark J. F., and Robert J. Paxton. 2009. “The Conservation of Bees: A Global Perspective.” Apidologie 40 (3): 410–16.
Cane, James H., and Byron G. Love. 2021. “Hygroscopic Larval Provisions of Bees Absorb Soil Water Vapor and Release Liquefied Nutrients.” Apidologie 52 (6): 1002–16.
Cane, J. H. 1981. “Dufour’s Gland Secretion in the Cell Linings of Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).” Journal of Chemical Ecology 7 (2): 403–10.
Chesshire, Paige R., Erica E. Fischer, Nicolas J. Dowdy, Terry L. Griswold, Alice C. Hughes, Michael C. Orr, John S. Ascher, et al. 2023. “Completeness Analysis for over 3000 United States Bee Species Identifies Persistent Data Gap.” Ecography, February. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.06584.
Danforth, Bryan N., Robert L. Minckley, John L. Neff, and Frances Fawcett. 2019. The Solitary Bees: Biology, Evolution, Conservation. Princeton University Press.
Grab, Heather, Michael G. Branstetter, Nolan Amon, Katherine R. Urban-Mead, Mia G. Park, Jason Gibbs, Eleanor J. Blitzer, Katja Poveda, Greg Loeb, and Bryan N. Danforth. 2019. “Agriculturally Dominated Landscapes Reduce Bee Phylogenetic Diversity and Pollination Services.” Science 363 (6424): 282–84.
LaBerge, Wallace E. 1980. “A Revision of the Bees of the Genus Andrena of the Western Hemisphere. Part X. Subgenus Andrena.” Transactions of the American Entomological Society 106 (4): 395–525.
Michener, Charles Duncan. 2007. The Bees of the World. Vol. 1. JHU Press.
Packer, Laurence, Amro Zayed, Jennifer C. Grixti, Luisa Ruz, Robin E. Owen, Felipe Vivallo, and Haroldo Toro. 2005. “Conservation Genetics of Potentially Endangered Mutualisms: Reduced Levels of Genetic Variation in Specialist versus Generalist Bees.” Conservation Biology: The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology 19 (1): 195–202.
Potts, Simon G., Jacobus C. Biesmeijer, Claire Kremen, Peter Neumann, Oliver Schweiger, and William E. Kunin. 2010. “Global Pollinator Declines: Trends, Impacts and Drivers.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution 25 (6): 345–53.
Raven, Peter H., and David L. Wagner. 2021. “Agricultural Intensification and Climate Change Are Rapidly Decreasing Insect Biodiversity.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118 (2). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002548117.
Roberts, Stuart, Simon Potts, Koos Biesmeijer, Michael Kuhlmann, William Kunin, and Ralf Ohlemüller. 2011. “Assessing Continental-Scale Risks for Generalist and Specialist Pollinating Bee Species under Climate Change.” BioRisk : Biodiversity & Ecosystem Risk Assessment 6 (December):1–18.
Rousseau, Josée S., S. Hollis Woodard, Sarina Jepsen, Brianne Du Clos, Alison Johnston, Bryan N. Danforth, and Amanda D. Rodewald. 2024. “Advancing Bee Conservation in the US: Gaps and Opportunities in Data Collection and Reporting.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2024.1346795.
Williams, A. Park, B. I. Cook, and S. E. Smerdon. 2022. “Rapid Intensification of the Emerging Southwestern North American Megadrought in 2020–2021.” Nature Climate Change 12 (3): 232–34.
Williams, N. M., Elizabeth E. Crone, T’ai H. Roulston, Robert L. Minckley, Laurence Packer, and Simon G. Potts. 2010. “Ecological and Life-History Traits Predict Bee Species Responses to Environmental Disturbances.” Biological Conservation 143 (10): 2280–91.
Wojcik, Victoria A., Lora A. Morandin, Laurie Davies Adams, and Kelly E. Rourke. 2018. “Floral Resource Competition Between Honey Bees and Wild Bees: Is There Clear Evidence and Can We Guide Management and Conservation?” Environmental Entomology 47 (4): 822–33.
No threats recorded
Conservation Actions
Conservation needs
No known conservation actions are in place for this species.
Protected/Managed area comment: There are no observations of this species from any federally managed land.
Management comment: Specific conservation needs for this species have not been identified. Due to the importance of supporting wild bee populations for pollination services, general conservation practices are recommended including, restoring, creating, and preserving natural high-quality habitats to include suitable forage and nesting sites; limiting pesticide use on or near suitable habitat, particularly during the adult bee’s flight period; promoting farming and urban practices that increase pollinator-friendly plants in margin space; minimizing exposure of wild bees to diseases transferred from managed bees; and lastly, avoiding honey bee introduction to high-quality native bee habitat.
Actions Needed
- 1.2 Resource & habitat protection
- 2.3 Habitat & natural process restoration
- 4.3 Awareness & communications
Research Needs
Research need comment: More information is needed about the population status, population trend, existing threats, range limits, habitat, and ecology of this species. Surveys targeting this species are needed throughout its range to determine its persistence throughout its historic range.
Taxonomic Notes
(a. any taxonomic concerns about the validity of the species? b. any taxonomic revisions underway that would require a species reassessment.