Squash Bee on Cucurbit Crops
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Squash Bee (Peponapis pruinosa) is a pollination specialist of squash and pumpkin flowers. This is a ground nesting bee. The female will dig vertical holes in the ground to make solitary nests, but often a site has multiple females and nests. The females collect pollen and nectar from cucurbit flowers and are synchronized with the flowering pattern of squashes. They are active very early in the morning, with activity diminishing by midmorning.
Squash bee in pumpkin flower.
(Photo: Ric Bessin, University of Kentucky)
