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 3.5-4.5 mm.; black, including collar and tubercles; antennae brownish above, testaceous beneath; face marks very small or absent, consisting of short linear maculations adjacent to lower end of eye, separated from clypeus, and terminated at level of upper margin of clypeus; tegulae brownish, not maculated; wings subhyaline, veins and stigma brownish; front and mid tibiae with small, basal, yellow spots, spurs and basal third or fourth of hind tibiae yellow, legs otherwise dark; face slightly narrowed below; facial foveae deep and distinct, separated from eye by a slightly wider space, hardly divergent from eye above; basal segment of flagellum about as long as broad, shorter than pedicel, 2nd and 3rd segments broader than long, following segments about as long as broad; cheeks and eyes subequal in width in lateral view; front coxae simple; dorsal area of propodeum slightly longer than metanotum, rather coarsely reticulate, face below antennae dull, tessellate, punctures obscure, those above antennae close and fine, but rather obscure, hardly evident on cheeks; scutum closely, finely, deeply and distinctly punctate, punctures on scutellum somewhat more coarse and more widely separated, those on pleura shallow, indistinct and rather sparse, surface somewhat tessellate but shining slightly; basal segment of abdomen somewhat shining, with scattered, very minute punctures toward apical margin, punctures on following segments close but very obscure, surface less shining.
MALE—Length 3.5 mm.; black, including collar, tubercles, mandibles, labrum, scape and tegulae; antennae obscurely reddened beneath toward apex, otherwise black; wings hyaline, veins and stigma piceous; clypeus yellow; supraclypeal area with a median, elongate, yellow spot; lateral face marks narrow, separated from clypeus by a narrow black line, terminated at level of antennae on eye margin; front tibiae reddish-yellow, with a dark posterior spot; mid tibiae mostly piceous, with obsure, yellowish, basal and apical areas, basal third of hind tibiae yellow; hind basitarsi yellow, with a reddish apex, tarsi otherwise more ferruginous; face narrowed below; supraclypeal area elongate, more than half the length of the clypeus; cheeks very slightly narrower than eyes in lateral view; scape rather robust, diameter at apex about twice that of pedicel; 1st and 2nd segments of flagellum broader than long, following segments about as long as broad, the more apical ones slightly longer; front coxae simple; dorsal area of propodeum about twice the length of the metanotum, coarsely reticulate, posterior and lateral surfaces relatively smooth; face with a shallow but distinct depression above lateral face marks, between bases of antennae and eyes; scutum dull, punctures rather fine and close but not crowded, those on scutellum more sparse and coarse; metanotum finely and densely rugose; pleural punctures fine and relatively sparse, interspaces obscurely tessellate; surface of abdomen finely roughened, rather dull, basal segment with very minute and sparse punctures, these closer but obscure
the following segments.
DISTRIBUTION — Ontario, Massachusetts and New York, west to Minnesota, southward to Tennessee and Georgia; June, July and August.
FLOWER RECORDS — Achillea and Apocynum cannabinum. Robertson (1929) gives the following host records: Amorpha fruticosa, Aruncus sylvester, Cicuta maculata, Crataegus crus-galli, Crypt otaenia canadensis, Eulophus americanus, Heracleum lanatum, Polygonum scandens, Sanicula canadensis, S. marilandica, Taenldia integerrima and Thas plum aureum trifoliatum.
Metz (1911) considered this to be inseparable from cressoni and treated it as a form of that species. If the differences were limited to the extent of maculation of the face, this view might be justified, but the shallow, definite facial depressions found in saniculae, but not evident in any of the specimens of cressoni so far examined, would indicate that the two probably are distinct. The female described here as representing saniculae is the small, almost completely black form of cressoni according to Metz. This correlation of sexes seems logical, but further supporting evidence that it is the correct one is needed.
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