Category: Genus page
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Ptilothrix
Ptilothrix are excavators through and through. Named for the turret of soil they pile up around their nest entrance, Ptilothrix nest in the most compacted of soils, which they soften with water gathered from nearby puddles and wetlands. They can often be seen skating like water striders on puddles as they collect water in their…
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Ceratina
Although they are still true carpenter bees, Ceratina are less than 1/4x the size of our more familiar eastern carpenter bee Xylocopa virginica. Ceratina are slender, dark metallic blue bees that are most common in late summer and fall. They live in semi-social stems above ground that females excavate by chewing up the pith to…
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Xylocopa
Eastern carpenter bees Xylocopa virginica are one of our most conspicuous species in the region. Everybody loves to despise eastern carpenter bees Xylocopa virginica for boring into untreated decks and wood sidings, but we’ve eliminated most of their natural nesting sites by cutting down dead trees and snags. X. virginica can be found throughout the…
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Nomada
Nomada are red, black, and yellow wasp-like bees, most of which are cleptoparasites of mining bees Andrena. As cleptoparasites, Nomada are tied to their hosts, and so most species occur in spring when Andrena diversity is at its peak. You are likely to encounter Nomada nectaring on flowers in your garden, hovering in warm, sunny…
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Triepeolus
Some of our meanest-looking bees, Triepeolus are cleptoparasites of longhorn bees (Eucerini). They are typically distinctly banded in white, black, and red, relatively hairless and found in the summer months when eucerines are active. Triepeolus females lay eggs in the open brood cells of longhorn bees. The eggs hatch into first instar larvae that kill…
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Peponapis
Find cultivated or wild squash Cucurbita pepo and you’ll almost certainly find Peponapis. Females provision nests exclusively with squash pollen and, in the heat of the day, males find shade inside the closed squash flowers. One species is present in our region Peponapis pruinosa and is distinctive among long-horned bees for its protruding face, pumpkin-colored…
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Melissodes
It can be tricky to get a good look at a Melissodes–males rarely stop for long on flowers and females forage for pollen quite energetically. Luckily, males always have very long antennae and females, despite having short antennae, have big brushes of scopal hairs on their hind legs, earning them the affectionate name of chap-legged…
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Bombus
Few other bees are as well-known and as beloved as bumble bees. These hairy, rotund bees are represented by nearly 60 species in the US, about 20 of which can be found in our region. Bumble bees form annual, social colonies which begins each spring with a queen and grows throughout the summer with help…
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Apis
Apis is the genus of honey bees – out of six species in the world, only Apis mellifera, the European Honey Bee, can be found in North America. All Apis form highly social, perennial colonies with a strong division of labor between egg-laying queens and non-reproductive female workers. Few feral colonies of A. mellifera exist…
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Coelioxys
Coelioxys are nest parasites of Megachile and, like their hosts, can be found in a variety of fairly open habitats from late spring through fall. Some of the dozen or so species found in our area are common garden bees, while a few are exceedingly rare. Female Coelioxys use their pointed abdomens to slice open…