Welcome to the cactus bee web page!

Follow the links above to find information about ground-nesting bees, cactus bees, other solitary bees, and research on cactus bees at the University of Arizona.

Update: These six web pages have been updated in February 2007. Each year we receive email from all over the U.S. from people who have spotted ground-nesting bees in their area, and who think these might be cactus bees. If cacti are not native to your area, however, you probably have spotted some other kind of ground-nesting bee. Most solitary bees nest in the ground, but only a few are cactus bees. Therefore this website has been updated with links to general info on solitary bees.

The best source of information to answer the question "what bees do I have nesting in my yard?" is your local (state) Agricultural Extension or Cooperative Extension office.

You can also try "What's That Bug: Bees" a great website with lots of photos.

Margrit McIntosh
(University of Arizona)

memcinto@email.arizona.edu