Extracted from: Robertson, C. (1897). North American Bees - Description and Synonyms. Transactions of the Academy of Science od St. Louis. Vol. 7. No. 14.
This is a common, widely distributed and variable species.
I have examined specimens ft'om Ct., N. Y., Va., Fla., Cuha,
Tenn., Ill., l\lontana, 'Yasll., Cal., So. Cal. Local specimens
yary in length, in the females from 7 to 11 mOl., in the males
from 6 to 10 mm. The wings are more or less hyaline.
Local males have the legs as in Say's description with the
middle and hind tibiae spotted, or these parts may be wh.olly
yellow, and even the femora almost entirely so.
Extracted from: Mitchell, T. 1962. Bees of the Eastern United States, I. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. 1-191.
FEMALE-Length 8-10 mm. ; entirely black;
pubescence yellowish-white above, becoming
more whitish below; head much broader than
long; eyes parallel; cheeks much broader than
eyes, terminating below with a prominent
tubercle or angle; distance between lateral
ocelli about half that between ocelli and eyes,
this space subequal to that between ocelli and
margin of vertex; punctures fine but deep and
distinct, close on upper portion of face and
dorsum of thorax, becoming quite sparse on lower portion of face and clypeus, more indistinct on cheeks below, pleura more striate than
punctate; dorsal area of propodeum not sharply defined, very finely striate labrally, becoming more rugose medially; wings subhyaline, veins and stigma yellowish; tegulae more
coppery; hind basitibial plate pointed apically;
abdominal terga minutely and closely punctate,
with entire, whitish, apical fasciae, these very
narrow and inconspicuous on 1st and 2nd*
terga.
MALE-Length 7-9 mm.; black, with mandibles, labrum and apical half of clypeus ~el;
low, flagellum testaceous beneath, tegulae yelIowish; length of head equal to its breadth;
clypeus projecting only slightly below suborbital line; eyes very slightly convergent below;
cheeks subequal to eyes in width; lateral ocelli
slightly nearer margin of vertex than to eyes;
basal segment of flagellum nearly equalling
segment 2 in length; punctures deep and distinct but fine and close on head and dorsum
of thorax, pleura more rugoso-striate; dorsal area of propodeum rather poorly defined, finely striate laterally, becoming very finely rugose
medially; wings subhyaline, veins and stigma
more ferruginous ; basal portion of legs black,
but tibiae ferruginous, with an outer yellowish
stripe, tarsi entirely yellow; abdominal terga
minutely and rather closely punctate, apical
margins reddish-hyaline; apical abdominal
fasciae whitish; apical margin of sternum
5 straight, sternum 6 broadly rounded; gonostyli relatively simple, subdivided apically into a rather narrow, rounded, outer lobe and a more broadly rounded, inner lobe which is
fringed with hairs.
Distribution
Country-wide, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, throughout the year, including December, January
and February in Florida.
Flower Records
thaea, Antennaria, Aster, Barbarea, Berteroa, Bidens,
Brassica, Ceanothus, Cephalanthus, Chrysanthemum, Chrysopsis, Cirsium, Elephantopus, Erigeron, Eryngium, Eupatorium,
Fagopyrum, Flaveria, Fragaria, Geranium
Haplopappus, Helenium, Helianthus, Houstonia, Melilotus, Monarda, Oenothera,
Opuntia, Polygonum, Potentilla, Prunus,
Pycnanthemum, Rhus, Rubus, Rudbeckia,
Senecio, Solidago, Spiraea, Stokesia, Sw
riana, Tanacetum, Taraxacum, Trifolium,
Vernonia, and Zinnia. Robertson (1929)
records this species (as Odontalictus ligatus) on the following additional genera:
Achilles, Anthemis, Arctium, Asclepias,
Blephilia, Boltonia, Braunia, Cacalia,
Camassia, Capsella, Cardumine, Cicuta,
Claytonia, Coreopsis, Cornus, Crataegus,
Cryptotaenia, Dianthera, Dentaria, Gnaphalium, Hedeoma, Heliopsis, Hypoxis, Krigia, Lactuca, Lepachzjs, Lepidium, Lespedexa, Liatris, Lippia, Lud,wigia, Lzjcopus,
Lythrum, Malva, Nelumbo, Nepeta, Oxalis,
Parthenium, Petalostemon, Phytolacca,
Polytaenia, Potentilla, Ptelea, Radicula,
Ranunculus, Sagittaria, Salix, Scutellaria,
Silphium, Sium, Stellaria, Taenidia, Valerianella, Verbena, Veronica, Zanthoxylum,
and Zixia.
This possibly is the most widely distributed and abundant of all native bees, and
along with this wide distribution there is
a wide range of variation, both in size and
in the relative development of such structures as the genal protuberance. There
seems to be no correlation, however, between extremes of variation and geographic
or seasonal distribution, and it seems doubtful, therefore, that any logical division into
races or subspecies can be achieved.
One record is of interest, consisting of
a series of 5 males collected at Princeton,
Florida, December 18, 1955, by D. 0. Wolfenbarger. These were found in bagworm
cases, and the possibility is suggested that
they were hibernating as adults.
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