Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2012
The nesting biology of Hoplitis producta has been reported by several authors, as the species is a common and widely distributed bee in North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Additional records, which have been obtained in connection with trap-nest research on bees and wasps in Wisconsin, are provided to supplement the previous reports.
The nests were found in the pith at the butt ends of sumac stick trap-nests. A nest could be recognized readily because the 3 mm. plug that closed the burrow had a more solid texture and a darker color than the surrounding pith at the end of the stick. Rau (1928) found nests in tunnels of elder, sumac or rose stems but could not ascertain whether the bee excavated its own burrows or utilized burrows left by other twig-dwellers. Fischer (1955) stated that the female almost invariably excavated its own burrow. In Wisconsin, freshly cut sumac sticks were placed in the field in the spring; therefore, each of the following records represents a nest in a burrow excavated by the foundress bee.