Habropoda laboriosa

Southeastern blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa

The southeastern blueberry bee (Habropoda laboriosa) is a solitary bee in the hymenopteran family Apidae. It is found throughout the eastern United States, where it is associated with a variety of host flowers [1]. It is an especially important pollinator of blueberries (Vaccinium sp.), and in some states is oligolectic on these hosts [2]. H. laboriosa uses buzz-pollination, similar to bumble bees (Bombus sp.) [2]. H. laboriosa females can visit more than 600 blueberry flowers to collect pollen for a single brood cell [3]. Over the course of a lifetime, a single H. laboriosa female may be responsible for more than 6,000 ripe blueberries [3].

Female blueberry bees nest either singly or in aggregations in deep, sandy soils. They dig long, vertical burrows that end in 1-3 cells [4]. Cells are provisioned with pollen and nectar and Dufour’s gland secretions [4]. H. laboriosa have a single generation of offspring per year[4]. Males emerge earlier than females and patrol nesting aggregations to find mating opportunities as virgin females emerge [4].

References cited

1. Discover Life website (http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Habropoda+laboriosa#Hosts)
2. Cane, J., Payne, J. A. 1988. Foraging ecology of the bee Habropoda laboriosa (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae), an oligolege of blueberries (Ericaceae: Vaccinium) in the southeastern United States. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 81:419-427.
3. Cane, J.H. 1997. Lifetime monetary value of individual pollinators: the bee Habropoda laboriosa at rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei reade). Acta Hortic, 446:67-70.
4. Cane, J. 1994. Nesting biology and mating behavior of the southeastern blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 67:236-241.