Epeolus cruciger (PANZER, 1799)

Cleptoparasitic: Hosts; In Britain, this species is presumed to be a cleptoparasite of two or three Colletes species, though rearing records to confirm these hosts are still necessary. It is often very common on southern heathlands, the females flying low and rather slowly over sandy exposures in their search for the nesting burrows of Colletes succinctus, which they have been seen to enter (Archer, 1984). Other authors who list this species as a host include Chambers (1949), R.C.L. Perkins (1923, 1945), Richards (1937) and Peeters, Raemakers & Smit (1999). A smaller form also occurs very locally on southern coastal dunes, where it is almost certainly a cleptoparasite of Colletes marginatus (Richards, 1937). Colletes fodiens may also be a host of this species, but the evidence is meagre (Richards, 1937; Peeters, Raemakers & Smit, 1999).

Celary (1990) lists Colletes fodiens and Colletes marginatus as hosts of this bee.

The host preferences of this species are summarised in Bogusch & Hadrava (2018)

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