Flower-Visiting
Insects
of Eastern Prickly Pear
Opuntia humifusa (Eastern Prickly Pear)
(bees suck nectar and/or collect pollen, the fly feeds on pollen, beetles feed on nectar or feed on pollen or gnaw on floral tissue; observations are from Mitchell, Moure & Hurd, LaBerge, MacRae, Grundel et al., and Wilhelm & Rericha as indicated below; Opuntia cespitosa is a scientific synonym of this plant)
Bees (long-tongued)
Apidae (Apini): Apis mellifera fq (Gnd); Apidae (Bombini): Bombus griseocollis (Gnd,WR), Bombus impatiens (WR), Bombus pensylvanicus (Mch); Anthophoridae (Ceratinini): Ceratina dupla (Gnd); Anthophoridae (Xylocopini): Xylocopa virginica (Mch); Anthophoridae (Eucerini): Melissodes communis communis (Mch), Melissodes coreopsis sn (Mch), Melissodes tepaneca (Mch), Melissodes wheeleri (Mch); Megachilidae (Megachilini): Lithurge littoralis (Mch), Megachile addenda (Mch), Megachile mendica (Mch), Megachile montivaga (Mch), Megachile texana (Mch)
Bees (short-tongued)
Halictidae (Halictinae): Agapostemon splendens (Mch, Gnd), Augochlorella aurata (Gnd, WR), Augochlorella striata (Mch), Halictus ligatus (Mch), Halictus rubicundus (MH), Lasioglossum coreopsis (Mch), Lasioglossum floridanum (WR), Lasioglossum nymphalis (Mch), Lasioglossum pilosum pilosum (Mch, Gnd, WR); Colletidae (Colletinae): Colletes brevicornis (LB)
Flies
Syrphidae: Paragus angustifrons fp (WR)
Beetles
Buprestidae: Acmaeodera tubulus (McR); Cleridae: Trichodes nuttalli (WR); Mordellidae: Mordella atrata (WR); Scarabaeidae: Popillia japonica (WR)