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First Records Of Perdita Bequaerti (Hymenopertera: Andrenidae) From New England, Justin C. Roch, Deicy Carolina Muñoz Agudelo, Lynn S. Adler, Joan Milam

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

We document the first New England records of the bee Perdita bequaerti Viereck. Perdita bequaerti is a specialist on Asteraceae flowers, especially Helianthus, and is native to much of eastern North America, where it is often associated with predominantly sandy habitats. Previous records indicated P. bequaerti reached the northeastern extent of its range in the state of New York, but in August 2019, during a survey of bees on Helianthus, we collected five specimens of P. bequaerti at two sites in western Massachusetts. Both sites were located on small-scale farms with abundant non-native Helianthus, on soils characteristic …