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Mostly uncommon bees, except for the recently introduced A. villosula which can be quite common in DC and surrounding suburbs in early spring and is expected to become increasingly common.

Field Marks: ♀♂Robust, Bumble Bee-shaped, often seen hovering in one place in front of flowers. Some species hair patterns match Bumble Bees, others with more extensive pale hairs. Wings, clear, not darkened. Head, top of head, more or less flattened. ♀Pollen carrying hairs on tibia and basitarsus of moderate length. Hairs longer on the hind tibia than the basitarsus. ♂Face, below the level of the antennae, extensive yellow/white/pale integument, including areas to either side of the clypeus and adjacent to the eyes. Most species with pale mark on first antennal segment (scape). Antennae short, not extending much past the base of wings if held backwards.
Flight Season: Spring to fall, primarily summer.
Size Relative to Honey Bee: 1.5 – 2X.
Position of Wings Feeding on Flowers: Slightly to the sides or overlapped.
Location of Pollen Carrying Hairs: Hind tibia and basitarsus.
Similar Genera: Bombus - ♀Hind tibia, wide, shiny, and bare in center, often carry large, noticeable mixed masses of pollen/nectar (rare species are parasitic and look like males); does not hover. Anthophora never have large moist masses of pollen on their legs, pollen usually hidden between hairs and carried dry. ♂Face entirely black though may have yellow hairs. Habropoda - A. abrupta and H. laboriosa are very similar looking. A. abrupta is out later (late May to June) vs. mostly April to early May. ♀Mostly on blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) and Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) ♂Face, white marks between clypeus and eye only a very narrow vertical line, A. abrupta with most of that region filled by white. Face, antenna, first antennal segment black. In A. abrupta, first segment of antenna with prominent white mark on outside face. Ptilothrix - Legs much longer in both sexes. Wings held across back. Overall narrower. Mostly feeds on rosemallow (Hibiscus spp.). Hair on thorax dense, pale and short. ♂No white on face. Xylocopa - Larger, wings smoky to dark brown, held out at 45° angle. Eucerini (Long-horned Bee Group) - ♀Hind tibia and basitarsus have overall longer and more copious hair; hair of two segments equally long with no apparent break between the two. ♂Clypeus yellow (rarely white); no pale markings between clypeus and eye; no pale mark on scape. Antennae long, extending well past base of wings when pulled back.
Nest: Usually clay soil, often aggregating together uses upturned tree roots, cliff faces, chinking in old log cabins, under decks.
Flowers: Nectars and a variety of flowers

Overview

The following material taken with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1962. Bees of the Eastern United States, Volume II. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Tech. Bul. No.152, 557 p.

These are robust, hairy bees, the clypeus black in the females, yellow in the males. In the front wings the stigma is very small, the marginal cell short, and there are three submarginal cells. The marginal cell extends somewhat beyond the 3rd submarginal, the latter only slightly longer than the 2nd, the 1st somewhat longer. The scopal hairs on the hind tibiae and basitarsi are simple, those on the tibiae longer than those on the basitarsi.