Pruinose Squash Bee
Xenoglossa pruinosa (Say, 1837)
Pruinose Squash Bee: https://marylandbiodiversity.com/species/3379
Synonyms
Eastern Cucurbit Bee  Peponapis pruinosa 
Tags

Map Snapshot

44 Records

Description

Nests are categorized as ground burrows, and social behavior is categorized as solitary to communal (Selfridge et al., 2017).

Relationships

"Aptly named, this bee only feeds its young on the pollen of Cucurbitaceae (pumpkins, squash, gourds and the like). This genus is native to the hemisphere, peaking in numbers in the Mexican highlands, but do not occur naturally in our area. However, because we keep planting pumpkins and squash each year, our squash bee friends are sustained, probably since Indians brought them into the area. Which is a good thing since they are very effective pollinators given that they are out at dawn (when almost no other bees are out) and active until squash plants close their blooms around 9 a.m. They are tight like ticks with Curcubits." (S. Droege, pers. comm.)

Seasonality Snapshot

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Source: Wikipedia

Wikipedia content unavailable for this taxon.