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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Honey, Bumble, Long-horned, Orchid, and Digger Bees (Apinae) » Long-horned Bees (Eucerini) » Squash Bees (Peponapis)

Genus Peponapis - Squash Bees

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Squash Bee at Santiago Oaks - Peponapis pruinosa - male

Peponapis pruinosa? - Peponapis pruinosa

Mr. Squash Bee #2 of 3 - Peponapis pruinosa - 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 (Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees)

Family Apidae (Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees)

Subfamily Apinae (Honey, Bumble, Long-horned, Orchid, and Digger Bees)

Tribe Eucerini (Long-horned Bees)

Genus Peponapis (Squash Bees)

Explanation of Names

Author: Robertson 1902

Numbers

6 spp. in 4 subgenera in our area, 13 spp. in 6 subgenera total(1)

Subgenera:

Peponapis: 2 spp. in our area, 7 spp. total(1)

Eopeponapis: 2 spp., both in our area(1)

Xenopeponapis: monotypic subgenus(1)

Xeropeponapis: monotypic subgenus(1)

Range

New World: throughout the US, se. Canada, south to Argentina (map)(1)

Habitat

associated with Cucurbitaceae; some live in deserts

Food

collect pollen only from Cucurbita (squash/pumpkins)

Remarks

these solitary ground nesting bees pollinate Cucurbitaceae more effectively than honeybees and line their brood cells with a waxlike material they secrete

Print References

(2)

Internet References

Overview by J. Cane

Fact sheet

Works Cited

1.	Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2017) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)

2.	A scientific note on the first record of nesting sites of Peponapis crassidentata (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Oliverio Delgado-Carrillo, Martha Lopezaraika-Mikel, Lorena Ashworth, Ramiro Aquilar, Jorge A. Lobo, Mauricio Quesada. 2017. Apidologie 48:644-647.

Contributed by john and jane balaban on 16 October, 2006 - 10:21pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Maury Heiman, John S. Ascher, v belov
Last updated 12 June, 2018 - 11:20pm

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