Amegilla bombiformis

Tilcayo Cats original · Amegilla · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Amegilla bombiformis, often called the teddy bear bee, is a large, orange-brown bee in the genus Amegilla. It is familiar in eastern Australia. A 2026 study also confirmed specimens from New Guinea, including Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian part of the island.

Appearance

Both sexes have orange, shimmering abdominal hair. Females have orange hind-leg pollen brushes and black hairs towards the front of the second upper abdominal plate. Males have a small triangular patch of black bristles on the fourth abdominal sternite. Several similar bees require more than an overall impression of orange fluff to separate them.

Distribution and nesting

Australian records are concentrated along the eastern coast. Wood's 2026 revision documented New Guinea specimens from Western, Central, Morobe and East Sepik in Papua New Guinea, and from Jayapura in Indonesian Papua. That confirms a wider distribution than an Australia-only description would imply.

The 2020 revision summarises older observations of nests in mudbrick or rammed-earth walls and in soil beneath houses. It records flower visits to Lantana and Duranta, but notes how little flower information accompanied the large number of specimens. Those two genera should not be presented as an exhaustive diet.

Species boundaries

Smith described the species in 1854. The 2020 revision treated names including A. imitata, A. punctata and A. rufa as synonyms, using type specimens where available together with descriptions and diagnostic characters.

The similar A. angustissima and A. sinewita, described in 2026, have more extensive dark hair on several abdominal plates and narrower orange bands. They remain separate species, despite resembling A. bombiformis.