The Gulf Coast solitary bee (Hesperapis oraria) is native to the immediate coast and barrier islands of northwest Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. It lives alone in burrows beneath the sand. It does not form colonies and has no queen or honey.

The bee emerges in late September and early October, when its host plant, coastal plain honeycombhead (Balduina angustifolia), blooms. Females collect pollen and build nests for their eggs. Males often sleep on flowers while waiting for females; their activity among flowers helps pollinate the plant.

Coastal plain honeycombhead is a biennial plant. In its first year it grows as a small rosette; in its second year it can reach two to three feet tall and produce one to 20 bright yellow flowers. The bee is found where this host plant is abundant because the two have a specialized relationship. Habitat loss and fragmentation, made worse by rising sea levels and inundation, threaten both.