Squash Bee vs Yellow-shouldered Slug Sawfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Squash Bee Yellow-shouldered Slug Sawfly
Scientific Name Peponapis pruinosa Arge berberidis
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Apidae Argidae
Size 12-14 mm 7-9 mm (adult)
Habitat Farmland Gardens
Diet Nectar Feeders Herbivores
Regions North America, Central America Europe
Conservation Not Evaluated Not Evaluated

Squash Bee

A solitary ground-nesting bee that specializes exclusively in pollinating squash, pumpkin, and gourd flowers. It begins foraging before dawn when cucurbit flowers first open.

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Did You Know?

Males often sleep inside closed squash blossoms at night, occasionally getting trapped when the flower wilts.

Yellow-shouldered Slug Sawfly

A sawfly pest of barberry and mahonia shrubs, skeletonizing leaves in gardens. Larvae are slug-like and pale green with a dark head.

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Did You Know?

Two generations per year can completely strip barberry hedges of their foliage by late summer.