''Macropsis patellata'' is a

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 super ...

in the

Melittidae Melittidae is a small bee family, with over 200 described species in three subfamilies. The family has a limited distribution, with all described species restricted to Africa and the northern temperate zone. Fossil melittids have been found oc ...

family. This species is endemic to the United States with observations in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

.NatureServe. (n.d.). Macropis patellata. Available from https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.963618/Macropis_patellata (accessed January 26, 2022). ''M. patellata'' is

oligolectic 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 mul ...

and known to feed only on species in the primrose family such as ''

Lysimachia ciliata ''Lysimachia ciliata'', the fringed loosestrife, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Primulaceae. It is an erect herbaceous plant, herbaceous perennial plant, perennial growing to tall and broad, with opposite, simp ...

''.DiscoverLife. (n.d.). Macropis patellata Patton, 1880. Available from https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q (accessed January 26, 2022). In Michigan the species has been a host for ''

Epeoloides pilosulus ''Epeoloides pilosulus'' is one of only two species in the bee genus ''Epeoloides''; it is cleptoparasitic in the nests of melittid bees of the genus ''Macropis''. Known to exist in only a handful of localities in the northeastern United States ...

''.

References

Melittidae Insects described in 1880 Insects of the United States {{Apoidea-stub