''Peponapis pruinosa'' is a species of
solitary bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfami ...
in the tribe
Eucerini
The Eucerini (often called long-horned bees) are the most diverse tribe in the family Apidae, with over 32 genera worldwide that were previously classified as members of the family Anthophoridae. All species are solitary, though many nest in lar ...
, 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
The name squash bee, also squash and gourd bee, is applied to two related genera of bees in the tribe Eucerini; '' Peponapis'' and ''Xenoglossa''. Both genera are oligoleges (pollen specialists) on the plant genus ''Cucurbita'' and closely relate ...
genus, ''
Xenoglossa
''Xenoglossa'' is a genus of large squash bees in the family Apidae. There are about 11 described species in ''Xenoglossa''.
Species
These 11 species belong to the genus ''Xenoglossa'':
* ''Xenoglossa angustior'' Cockerell, 1899
* ''Xenoglossa d ...
''.
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
The term oligolecty is used in pollination ecology to refer to bees that exhibit a narrow, specialized preference for pollen sources, typically to a single family or genus of flowering plants. The preference may occasionally extend broadly to mu ...
, specializing on a few host plants, the squashes and gourds of genus ''
Cucurbita
''Cucurbita'' (Latin for gourd) is a genus of herbaceous fruits in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae (also known as ''cucurbits'' or ''cucurbi''), native to the Andes and Mesoamerica. Five edible species are grown and consumed for their flesh and ...
''. Its range expanded as human agriculture spread throughout North America and squash plants became more abundant and widespread.
[Williams, R., et al]
Pumpkin Pollinator: Biology and Behavior of the Squash Bee.
Fact Sheet. Agriculture and Natural Resources. Ohio State University Extension. 2009.[Shuler, R. E., et al. (2005)]
Farming practices influence wild pollinator populations on squash and pumpkin.
''J Econ Entomol'' 98(3) 790-95. It may also have spread naturally as the range of its favored wild host plant ''
Cucurbita foetidissima
''Cucurbita foetidissima'' is a tuberous xerophytic plant found in the central and southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It has numerous common names, including: buffalo gourd, calabazilla, chilicote, coyote gourd, fetid gourd, fetid wi ...
'' expanded.
[Bischoff, I., et al. (2009)]
Differentiation and range expansion of North American squash bee, ''Peponapis pruinosa'' (Apidae:Apiformes) populations assessed by geometric wing morphometry.
''Ann Entomol Soc Am'' 102(1) 60-69.
This bee is 11 to 14 millimeters long and 4 to 5.5 millimeters wide at the abdomen. It is black with whitish bands on the abdomen and it is coated in yellowish hairs.
[ Branched hairs or scopae on the hind legs help to carry the large, coarse pollen of cucurbits. Males lack scopae, as they do not collect pollen.
This bee relies on wild and cultivated squashes, pumpkins, gourds, and related plants. It may occasionally obtain ]nectar
Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
from other types of plants, but the female will only use ''Cucurbit'' pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
to provision her young.[Tepedino, V. (1981)]
The pollination efficiency of the squash bee (''Peponapis pruinosa'') and the honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') on summer squash (''Cucurbita pepo'').
''Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society.'' 54(2) 359-77. Females dig a nest in the ground near its host plants. The nests are known to reach depths of 46 centimeters, but the offspring are usually placed at shallower depths.[ The bee seems to favor ]irrigated
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
soils and soils cleared by fire.[Splawski, C. E. (2012)]
Mulch effects on squash (''Cucurbita pepo'' L.) and pollinator (''Peponapis pruinosa'' Say) performance. Thesis.
Ohio State University. It may also nest in lawn
A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...
s.[Hurd, P., et al. (1974)]
Ecology of the squash and gourd bee, ''Peponapis pruinosa'', on cultivated cucurbits in California (Hymenoptera:Apoidea).
''Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology'' 168. The bee will sometimes plug the nest just below the surface, and it may place a tumulus
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...
at the entrance.[ Nest building activity often occurs later in the day, as mornings are usually spent foraging.][ The squash flower opens early in the morning and closes before noon, and the bee's activity pattern is tied to the flower's cycle.][ The male bee spends most all of his time in and around flowers, foraging and mating in the open flowers and sleeping inside the closed flowers after noon.][ The females live in and around the flowers until nesting season, when they live in and maintain one or more nests.][ The young ]pupate
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
in late June and early July.[Mathewson, J. A. (1968)]
Nest construction and life history of the eastern cucurbit bee, ''Peponapis pruinosa'' (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).
''Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society'' 41(2) 255-61.
This species is an important pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are the maj ...
of cultivated crops of squash, pumpkins, and related plants. A squash field with a healthy population of squash bees can be completely pollinated with no need for the introduction of honeybees.[ This ground-nesting bee often spends its entire life in an irrigated crop field, and there it can face a number of hazards, such as ]tillage
Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoein ...
and pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
s.[ The effects of tillage on ''P. pruinosa'' are so great on the that tilled farms may have three times fewer squash bees than a farm with no tillage.]Bombus impatiens
''Bombus impatiens'', the common eastern bumble bee, is the most commonly encountered bumblebee across much of eastern North America. They can be found in the Eastern temperate forest region of the eastern United States, southern Canada, and the ...
'' has also been found to be a good pollinator of squash, pumpkins in particular.[Artz, D. R. and B. A. Nault. (2011)]
Performance of ''Apis mellifera'', ''Bombus impatiens'', and ''Peponapis pruinosa'' (Hymenoptera: Apidae) as pollinators of pumpkin.
''Journal of Economic Entomology'' 104(4) 1153-61.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2323788
Apinae
Insects described in 1837