• Family: Apidae
• Approximate # species in region: 1
• Common name: squash bees

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 thorax and strongly banded abdomen. Peponapis can be found in the morning near squash flowers in agricultural fields, urban farms, and backyard vegetable gardens. However, they are also known to nectar on non-squash flowers including morning glories Ipomoea spp. and pickerelweed Pontederia cordata, often apparently traveling long distances to do so.

Regional Species List: