Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1960 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141.
FEMALE—Length 11 mm.; eyes only slightly convergent below; length of malar space about one-fourth its breadth; facial foveae quite deep and extensive, subtriangular; antennae doll reddish, length and breadth of median segments subequal central area of clypeus flattened, more striate than punctate; central portion of supraclypeal a lea impunctate, hut with scattered, irregular punctures laterally; pubescence rather short, more or less intermixed with fuscous mi vertex and dorsum of thorax; lateral angles Of pronotum sharply acute, but not spine-like; metapleural protuberance not carinate; tegulae dull reddish; wings subhyaline, veins and stigma ferruginous, 2nd submarginal cell longer than 3rd; scutum anti scutellum shining, punctures deep, distinct and rather coarse, uniformly well separated, hut interspaces not exceeding the puncture width; punctures of pleura quite similar to scutum but interspaces slightly greater; anterior coxae not spined; tarsi dark, hind basitarsi very short and broad, length only slightly greater than twice the breadth; mid and hind spurs fuscous, anterior spurs yellow; punctures of abdominal terga fine and close, deep and distinct on basal segment, becoming minute and indistinct on the more apical segments; hind margins of terga depressed, only slightly reddened beneath the dense, entire, white fasciae; discs of abdominal terga with short, thin erect fuscous pubescence.
MALE—Length 8-9 mm; eyes only slightly convergent below; length of malar space nearly one-half its breadth; antennae dull reddish, median segments only slightly longer than broad; clypeus flattened, somewhat grooved medially, bare and rather smooth, punctures fine, obscure and quite sparse, obscurely striate; pubescence rather short, more or less intermixed with fuscous on vertex and dorsum of thorax; lateral angles of pronotum sharply acute, but not spine-like; metapleural protuberance not carinate; tegulae dull reddish; wings subhyaline, veins anti stigma ferruginous, 2nd submarginal coil longer than 3rd; scutum, scutellum and pleura shining, punctures deep, distinct, quite coarse, regularly distributed, interspaces about a puncture width except on pleura below where they are more sparse, and with a median impunctate line on scutellum; tarsi dark, hind basitarsi apically fully half as wide as the total length, slightly narrower at base; mid and hind spurs fuscous, anterior spurs yellowish; abdominal terga finely and closely punctate, punctures deep and distinct on basal segment, becoming minute and obscure on the more apical segments; hind margins of terga depressed, reddish-hyaline beneath the dense, entire, white fasciae; discs of abdominal terga with short, thin, erect, fuscous pubescence.
DISTRIBUTION —Florida to Louisiana, north to New York, Michigan and Wisconsin: March to September. Stephen states that the range of this species extends west as far as Arizona. The earl’ flight records are from Florida.
FLOWER RECORDS—Ceanothus americanus, Physalis, and Trifolium. It is recorded by Stephen on Asclepias incarnate, Medicago sativa, Melilotus alba, Physalis lanceolata, P. virginiana, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Solidago and Symphoricarpus occidentalis. Robertson (1929) records this species also on Asclepias syriaca, Campanula americana, Cicuta maculate, Lycopus americanus, Passiflora lutea, Physalis lanceolata, P. subglabrata, P. virginiana and Pycnanthemum flexuosum.
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