Centris hoffmanseggiae Cockerell 1897

Centris (Xerocentris) hoffmanseggiae Cockerell

This is primarily a desert species, which flies during the spring and ranges from New Mexico into southern California, but has been recorded from Hastings Natural History Reservation in the Santa Lucia Mountains, Monterey County, California (Snelling, 1956). It has previously been reported from the flowers of Larrea, as well as those of Cercidium, Lotus, Prosopis, Penstemon, Dicentra, and alfalfa (Snelling, 1956, 1974).

In our field investigations we encountered it during April and May at the flowers of Larrea, usually seeking nector, but sometimes the females were also collecting pollen. Specific localities where we observed the species at Larrea flowers include Lordsburg, New Mexico, in May (Table 2) and the following localities in Arizona: 1 mile north of Portal in May (Table 5), Douglas in May (Table 7), Tucson Airport in May (Table 11), 18 miles west of Tucson in May (Table 9) and Yuma in April (Table 12).