OCTOBER 2025

Orchid Bees (Euglossini)

By Jimena Ham

You shouldn’t confuse these bees with those… weird looking flies that seemed, zooming around day and night. No, these are more than just bees, they are Orchid Bees. They specifically look out for Orchids to get pollen from!

They are super unique because they have a metallic looking color that can vary between species. The orchid bees are known as a tribe called Euglossini which has several species. “Living in the rainforests of the New World are 250 species of the world's most flamboyant bees.” (Stephen Buchmann).

This tribe includes five genera, which include a variety of colors and behaviors:

Euglossa: This genus is known for its brilliant, metallic colors, including blue, green, and gold.

Eulaema: Species in this genus are large and densely hairy, often colored black or brown with yellow or orange stripes, and typically lack a metallic sheen.
Eufriesea: These bees are robust, with some displaying metallic coloration. Males of this genus are active for only a few months of the year.
Exaerete: This genus consists of large, bright green or blue bees that are kleptoparasitic, meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other orchid bees.
Aglae: A monotypic genus (containing only one species, Aglae caerulea), its members are also kleptoparasites.

(Previous Information credited to Stephen Buchmann and Pollinator Partnership)

Data:

Orchid Bees can be easily distinguished from other bees by three major factors; their color, their big tongue, and the fact that they primarily eat from orchid flowers.

Measurements:

Tongues measure 4 cm — in some species.

Length: 8 to 35 cm — varies in some species
Wing Length:

Biggest: up to 6 cm
Smallest: between 1.00 cm to 0.90 cm

Where they live: They can be found in tropical regionals between Mexico and the very end of Brazil (towards the south), including Argentina — therefore these bees can be found here in Honduras!! The habitat in which they live needs to be humid such as tropical forests, however there are some cases that they can be found in savannas and alongside rivers.

What do they eat/collect?

Nectar: Both Female and Male of this species obtain energy (food) from flowering plants.
Pollen: Female orchid bees collect pollen, which they use to feed their larva.
Resin: Some specific species of plants produce resin, which the female bees collect to build their nests.

Life Span: (This all varies on Species)

Egg: A curved is laid inside a brood cell* and resources like pollen (food) are placed inside too.
Larva: The egg hatches into a larva with ivory-colors, which takes 2 days to develop into the next stage.
Pupa: Larva transforms into a pupa* —this can also include a pre-pupa stage, for about 35 days.
Adult: The adult emerges to begin its life cycle.

Females Jobs: Find materials for nests and provision brood cells* where they can lay their eggs — some of the species display some sort of social behavior in which daughter and mother stay together in a nest.
Male Jobs: Searches for the ‘best’ fragrance components from orchids and in some cases other flowers —which they store in their hind legs— with the purpose of finding a mate.

Cool Facts:

Orchid Bees don’t make or store honey, and they don’t have queens.
The males of the species are solitary, meaning that they don’t live in colonies with other bees — in comparison to the females of some species.
Orchid Bees are the ones that help pollinate over 700 species of tropical orchids.

Male Orchids when they collect fragrance in this process they call it perfume making since they create ‘perfume’ to attract potential mates.
The reason why his bees are these metallic colors — and some other species of insect — is due to the microscopic structure of their exoskeletons. Which reflects and interferes with light, a phenomenon called structural color*.

Dictionary: (Oxford Languages)

Pupa: An insect in its inactive immature form between larva and adult, e.g. chrysalis

Brood Cells: Its hexagonal, wax cells in a beehive that are used to raise young bees through their egg, larva, and pupa stages.

Structural Color: The production of color by microscopically structured surfaces that interfere with visible light, unlike pigments which absorb light.

Works Cited

Britannica. “euglossine bee.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/animal/euglossine-bee. Accessed 4 November 2025.

BugGuide. “Euglossa Dilemma.” BugGuide, 4 November 2006, https://bugguide.net/node/view/89344. Accessed 4 November 2025.

Forest Service - U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Orchid Bees (The Euglossines).” Forest Service, 17 June 2024, https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/orchid_bees.shtml. Accessed 4 November 2025.

Lobe, Bev. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Orchid Bees.” Gil Wizen, 16 May 2016, https://gilwizen.com/orchid-bees/. Accessed 4 November 2025.

Wilson, Tiff. “Everything You Need To Know About Orchid Bees.” BowtotheBee, Tiff Willson, 19 February 2024, https://bowtothebee.com/blogs/about-bees-1/orchid-bees?srsltid=AfmBOopM5iN6qg0hSgAH9iTXyyaTggBiRwMwZeIDmnEh-VYrG1kxEjyz. Accessed 4 November 2025.

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