A native bee that specializes ENTIRELY on plants in the squash family. They're the most efficient pollinators of pumpkins and squash in North America — yet most farmers and gardeners have no idea they exist.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
Peponapis pruinosa is a species of solitary bee in the tribe Eucerini, the long-horned bees. Its common name is the eastern cucurbit bee. It may be called the squash bee, but this name can also apply to other species in its genus, as well as the other squash bee genus, Xenoglossa. This bee occurs in North America from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast and into Mexico. It is an oligolege, specializing on a few host plants, the squashes and gourds of genus Cucurbita. Its range expanded as human agriculture spread throughout North America and squash plants became more abundant and widespread. It may also have spread naturally as the range of its favored wild host plant Cucurbita foetidissima expanded.
Source: Wikipedia — Peponapis pruinosa Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Medium-sized stout bee with hairy body; chocolate-brown thorax and abdomen with yellow bands; carries dry yellow pollen on hind legs.
Similar species. Common honey bee (different shape, different pollen-carrying). Bumblebees (much fuzzier). Other Peponapis species (Western range).
Voice. Buzz during flight.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Pollen and nectar from squash, pumpkin, gourd, and other Cucurbita species — extreme specialist on this plant genus.
Behavior. Solitary ground-nesting native bee that pollinates squash and pumpkin crops more efficiently than honey bees. Females emerge synchronized with cucurbit flowering; active only during the brief morning hours when squash flowers are open. Often found sleeping inside closed squash flowers (which fold shut by midday). Pre-European, squash bees co-evolved with wild Cucurbita populations that were domesticated by Indigenous peoples.
§ Range
Eastern and central US
§ Habitat
Agricultural fields, gardens with squash, pumpkin, gourd
§ Threats
Soil tillage destroying ground nests (squash bees nest ~3 inches deep in field soil), neonic-treated seed, displacement by introduced honey bees.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the eastern squash bee is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Reduce or eliminate till in vegetable gardens. Don't use neonic-treated seed or plants. Plant squash to support native pollinators.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Peponapis pruinosa
- xerces.org — authoritative profile of Peponapis pruinosa
- iNaturalist · taxon 124472
- IUCN Red List — search for Peponapis pruinosa
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Peponapis pruinosa
§ Sources cited
- Xerces Society
- USDA Agricultural Research Service
- Cornell Pollinator Network
