A New State Record!

Cemolobus ipomoeae (Robertson, 1891)

As we identify all of our bees in the museum we're finding some really cool species. The native bee, Cemolobus ipomoeae, is a new species for Colorado and represents a big jump in the known distribution, as it was historically not found west of Missouri. It is also a specialist bee, feeding on morning-glories (Ipomea sp.). Hence it's specific epithet, ipomoeae. These images were taken by Brian Lobbes in the CU Entomology Collection.