Calla lily vs Cliff Mining Bee

Zantedeschia aethiopica compared with Andrena thoracica

Key Differences

  • Calla lily is Least Concern while Cliff Mining Bee is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank Calla lily Cliff Mining Bee
Kingdom Plantae (Plants) Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants) Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Liliopsida (Monocots) Insecta (Insects)
Order Alismatales (Alismatales) Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family Araceae Andrenidae
Genus Zantedeschia Andrena
Species Zantedeschia aethiopica Andrena thoracica

Conservation Status

Calla lily

LC — Least Concern

Cliff Mining Bee

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute Calla lily Cliff Mining Bee
Diet
Average Lifespan
Average Length
Average Weight

Habitat & Geographic Range

Calla lily

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate coniferous forests, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 4 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Palearctic realms.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Burundi, Morocco), Asia (India, Taiwan, Turkey), Europe (14 countries), North America (Costa Rica, Mexico, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand), and South America (5 countries).

Cliff Mining Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

Calla lily

The Calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) is a species in the genus Zantedeschia. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate coniferous forests, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 4 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Palearctic realms.

Cliff Mining Bee

The Cliff Mining Bee, Andrena species in the family Andrenidae, is a solitary ground-nesting bee that excavates tunnels in cliff faces, earthen banks, and compacted sandy or loamy soils, where the loose or friable substrates exposed in cliff profiles provide ideal nesting conditions. Mining bees in the genus Andrena are among the most species-rich solitary bee genera in the world, with hundreds of species across the Holarctic region, many narrowly specialized in their choice of pollen host plants. Female cliff mining bees construct vertical or angled burrows in cliff faces, with lateral cells off the main shaft, each containing a pollen ball and a single egg. Males are typically smaller and emerge before females to establish territories near nesting sites. Many Andrena species are oligolectic, collecting pollen from only a small number of plant species, making their populations sensitive to the availability of specific flowering plants in the landscape surrounding nesting areas. Cliff and bank nesting habitats provide well-drained, sun-warmed substrates essential for brood development. The loss of natural cliff faces and earthen banks to development, vegetation succession, and quarrying reduces available nesting habitat for cliff mining bees.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

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