Spring-emerging
Guides
Agnippe abdita
Agnippe abdita is a small gelechiid moth with a wingspan of 8.5–9 mm, recorded from Utah, Arizona, and California. Adults are active in March. The larvae feed on Cercocarpus ledifolius and Cercocarpus montanus, with larval presence varying by region: March in southern California, June in eastern California and Utah.
Andrena carlini
Carlin's Mining Bee, Carlinville Miner Bee
Andrena carlini is a mining bee species in the family Andrenidae. It is strongly associated with forest habitats in eastern North America, where it serves as an important pollinator of spring-blooming wildflowers and woody plants. The species has been documented as prey for crab spiders and is active primarily during spring.
Andrena nivalis
Snowy Mining Bee, Snow Miner Bee
Andrena nivalis, commonly known as the snowy mining bee or snow miner bee, is a solitary mining bee species in the family Andrenidae. It is native to North America and is active in early spring. Like other Andrena species, it nests in the ground and provisions its brood cells with pollen and nectar.
Andrena regularis
Regular Mining Bee, Regular Miner
Andrena regularis is a ground-nesting solitary mining bee native to North America. It is known to form large nesting aggregations, as documented at East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, New York, where it was the dominant species in a study collecting 3,251 individuals across 16 bee, fly, and beetle species. The species exhibits a 41-day emergence period from late March through mid-May, with distinct timing of male and female emergence. It serves as a host for the brood parasite Nomada imbricata. Cemeteries may function as important refugia for this and other ground-nesting bee populations.
Eriocrania
Birch leaf-mining moths
Eriocrania is a Palearctic genus of small, diurnal leaf-mining moths in the family Eriocraniidae. Adults are active in early spring (March–May), flying in sunshine around host trees. Larvae are specialized miners of birch leaves (Betula spp.), forming large blotch mines with distinctive frass patterns. The genus exhibits pronounced population fluctuations between years and has been extensively studied for its ecological interactions, including competition with other leaf-miners and responses to environmental stressors such as urbanization and pollution.
Ethmia lassenella
Ethmia lassenella is a small moth species in the family Ethmiidae, found in the western United States. Adults are active in early spring, with a distinctive appearance featuring steel gray forewings marked with bright red-orange and black spots, and white hindwings with a broad black marginal band. The species is one of approximately 50 Ethmia species occurring north of Mexico, most of which are concentrated in the southwestern United States.
Hoplitis fulgida platyura
Pacific Green Small-Mason
Hoplitis fulgida platyura is a subspecies of mason bee in the family Megachilidae. It is native to western North America, where it occurs from British Columbia to California. The subspecies is distinguished from the nominate form by structural differences in the male antennae and subtle coloration differences. Like other members of the genus Hoplitis, females construct nests in pre-existing cavities and line brood cells with collected materials.
Liris
Liris is a large genus of solitary, ground-nesting wasps in the family Crabronidae, tribe Larrini, containing over 260 species worldwide with greatest diversity in the tropics. These wasps are among the earliest emerging solitary wasps in spring because females overwinter as adults. They are medium-sized, silvery-black wasps that hunt crickets as prey for their larvae. Only two species, L. argentatus and L. beata, occur consistently north of the extreme southern United States.
Liris argentatus
Square-headed Wasp
Liris argentatus is a solitary, square-headed wasp in the family Crabronidae. It is one of the most abundant and widespread species of its genus in North America, ranging from southern Canada to Panama. Females overwinter as adults and emerge early in spring, often being among the first solitary wasps observed. The species is a specialist predator of crickets, provisioning underground nests with paralyzed prey for its larvae.
Pedomoecus
early smoky wing sedges
Pedomoecus is a genus of caddisflies in the family Apataniidae, established by Ross in 1947. The genus contains one described species, Pedomoecus sierra. Members are classified as "early smoky wing sedges," indicating spring-emerging adults with darkened wings.
Semioscopis inornata
dull flatbody moth, Poplar Micromoth
A small moth in the family Depressariidae, described by Walsingham in 1882. Adults are active in spring, with a single generation per year. Larvae are leaf-rollers that feed on poplar and willow species.