The female Melissodes apicatus that formed part of an aggregation of about 150 similar females nesting in fine white sand in a Florida sandhill habitat. There are wetlands nearby with large stands of pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata).

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The nesting behavior of the female shown here, and of the other females around it, was as follows: The bees’ nests lacked visible entrance holes, because the fine white sand of the nest area immediately filled in any holes dug by the bees. The female bees, laden with yellow pollen, flew around the nest area, low to the ground, in order to sense the location of their underground nests. They then landed and dug down into bare sand until disappearing. The sand closed behind them, leaving no evidence of the nest entrance. Females emerged five to ten minutes later, without pollen loads. The nesting area of the long-horned bee females was visited throughout the day by Triepeolus cuckoo bees. These brood parasites were observed repeatedly entering individual Melissodes nests, including the nest of the bee shown here.