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Genus Epeolus

Epeolus scutellaris - male Epeolus bifasciatus? - Epeolus bifasciatus Bee on yarrow - Epeolus olympiellus Bee on Copper Mallow - Epeolus americanus Epeolus cuckoo bee - Epeolus pusillus - female reddish-leg banded bee - Epeolus scutellaris Unknown Bee - Epeolus bifasciatus Epeolini? - Epeolus - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Apidae (Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees)
Subfamily Nomadinae (Cuckoo Bees)
Tribe Epeolini
Genus Epeolus
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
revised in (1)
Explanation of Names
Epeolus Latreille 1802
Numbers
43 spp. in our area(1), >100 total(2)
Range
Most diverse in North America, also across Africa, Asia, and Europe(1)
Food
cleptoparasites of Colletes
Remarks
Differences in the shape of the pygidial plate are used for generic ID of males (shorter and broadly rounded in Epeolus; narrower and with sinuate margins in Triepeolus). This can be difficult to see even in pinned specimens so many males were described in the wrong genus, even by Cockerell and Mitchell! In females the obvious difference is the extent and configuration of a hair patch called the pseudopygidial area (shorter and more transverse in Epeolus). These hairs are often silvery. (J.S. Ascher's comment)