Epeoloides pilosulus is one of only two species in the bee

Bee

Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...

 genus Epeoloides

Epeoloides

Epeoloides is a genus of cleptoparasitic bees which lay their eggs in the nests of melittid bees of the genus Macropis.Consists of two species:*Epeoloides coecutiens Fabricius, 1775*Epeoloides pilosulus...

; it is cleptoparasitic

Kleptoparasitism

Kleptoparasitism or cleptoparasitism is a form of feeding in which one animal takes prey or other food from another that has caught, collected, or otherwise prepared the food, including stored food...

 in the nests of melittid bees

Melittidae

The family Melittidae is a small bee family, with some 60 species in 4 genera, restricted to Africa and the northern temperate zone. Historically, the family has included the Dasypodaidae and Meganomiidae as subfamilies, but recent molecular studies indicate that Melittidae was paraphyletic, so...

 of the genus Macropis

Macropis

Macropis is a genus of bees.-Description:Apoidea are of moderate size, not exceeding 15 mm. They have a livery predominantly black, males are characterized by conspicuous yellow markings on the head , but the females show morphological adaptations related to their foraging habits of flower oils,...

. Known to exist in only a handful of localities in the northeastern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and adjacent parts of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, this species is classified as Endangered by the State of Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

.

History and status

This species was once widely distributed in the northern and eastern United States and southern Canada, but virtually no records existed after 1960, leading to speculation that this species was extinct, until it was found in 2002 in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, and more recently from a power line right-of-way in Connecticut.