They have a dark green head that is wider than it is long, with light yellow mandibles and face (below the antennae).

Their heads share the same color scheme as the male Mojave poppy bees, however the pale yellow is less extensive.

There was only a single historical report of this bee in Arizona, and this region is devoid of populations at this time.

Fish & Wildlife Service considers the possible range of the Mojave poppy bee to be limited to Nevada.

[3] One of the major threats to the Mojave poppy bee is habitat fragmentation which can be caused by urbanization of previously wild landscapes.

[12][3] Climate change has placed stress on the bear-poppies' life cycle and the Mojave poppy bee's life cycle, by causing a disconnect between flowering times and active periods in bee populations.

[3] In 2018 an application for the Mojave poppy bee to be protected under the Endangered Species Act was penned and submitted.

The petition cited gypsum mining, urbanization, habitat fragmentation, climate change, invasive species, and disease/predation as reasons for protection.

[8] Despite the delay in the verdict under the Endangered Species Act there is a general consensus that Perdita meconis is vulnerable to, or under threat of, extinction.