Epeolus ainsliei Crawford 1932

Gibbs, Jason, Ascher, John S., Rightmyer, Molly G. & Isaacs, Rufus, 2017, The bees of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), with notes on distribution, taxonomy, pollination, and natural history, Zootaxa 4352 (1), pp. 1-160 : 49

Epeolus ainsliei Crawford 1932 (New state record)

County records: Livingston.

Notes. Possibly a cleptoparasite of Colletes susannae Swenk. The two were recently collected together in relative abundance in Birds Hill Provincial Park, Manitoba, and have been found together in the past ( Wolf & Ascher 2009). However, Colletes susannae is not known to occur in Michigan and the host plant of this bee, Dalea purpurea Vent. , is rare and possibly adventive in the state ( Voss & Reznicek 2012). Colletes americanus Cresson has also been collected in association with E. ainsliei ( Wolf & Ascher 2009) . The closest previous record of the prairie-associated E. ainsliei was from Wisconsin ( Wolf & Ascher 2009).

Material examined. Livingston Co.: E. S. George Reserve, 19 Jul. 1960, F.C. Evans (1 ♀ UMMZ) , 2 Aug. 1960, U.N. Lanham (3♀ UMMZ).