Category: Genus page
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Holcopasites
If you’re not looking for Holcopasites, you might not see them. These very tiny cuckoo bees are easily overlooked, but up close are brightly colored with bold markings. In our region, you are most likely to encounter H. calliopsidis hovering above dry, hard-packed earth where its host campus bees Calliopsis andreniformis are nesting. This genus…
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Genus Accounts
At present, our guide covers nearly 30 bee genera in the northeast. Each link will take you a page for that genus, with a list of the species in that genus that can be found in our guide. We are continuing to expand this list to include all bee genera in the northeast.
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Sphecodes
Sphecodes are a group of diverse and enigmatic cleptoparasites. Members of this genus are thought to predominately parasitize nests of other ground or wood-nesting halictids, mainly Lasioglossum, but also Halictus, Agapostemon, Augochlorella, and possibly Andrena and Calliopsis. Although genus-level identification of this genus is straightforward–a fairly wasp-like bee with a dark head and thorax, and…
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Anthidiellum
Anthidiellum are tiny, compact anthidiines that are associated with dry, sandy habitats. Bees in this genus build nests out of tree resin. In the northeast, Anthidiellum nests are resinous jug-like structures that hang from vegetation, each of which contains a single developing offspring. Anthidiellum can be locally abundant, especially when host plants are abundant, and…
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Perdita
Perdita are tiny sand sprites. Bees in this genus are affectionately known as “fairy bees” and they are most diverse in the desert southwest, with only a handful of species found in the northeast. Because of their tiny size, tight association with sand, and often strict host plant requirements, Perdita are rarely stumbled upon. In…
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Epeolus
Epeolus are cleptoparasites of cellophane bees (Colletes spp.). They are typically orange-red and black, with cream-white or silvery bands on the abdomen. Females enter nests while the host female is out foraging for nest provisions; eggs are laid in the host brood cells, either attached to the wall of the brood cell or in between…
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Calliopsis
A group of small, compact ground-nesting bees, often with yellow face markings. In our region, two species occur, with Calliopsis andreniformis being the more widespread and abundant species by far. Look for this species in early summer in the most trampled earth you can find. They especially like dirt paths, abandoned baseball diamonds, and wetland…
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Andrena
Andrena is one of the biggest groups of bees in our region. Mining bees are most frequently encountered easily seen in spring when dozens of species emerge to take advantage of spring ephemerals and woody plants in flower. A few, rarer species are active in summer (with the exception of exotic and abundant A. wilkella),…
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Habropoda
Habropoda are chunky, speedy bees, represented in our region by a single species. Habropoda laboriosa is a robust spring bee that looks much like a bumble bee, but females gather pollen in scopal brushes rather than corbiculae and males have big cream-colored spots on their faces. Species covered: Species requiring accounts: none
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Anthophora
Anthophora are zippy, fast-flying bees. Five species occur in our region, four of which nest in bare ground and one which nests in rotting wood. Ground-nesting species often form big nesting aggregations along exposed banks, eroded cliffs, and bare slopes. All species are chunky and hairy and superficially resemble bumble bees, but note the brushes…