Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1962 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 152.
FEMALE—Length 7-8 mm.; lateral ocelli much nearer margin of vertex than to each other; cheeks about two-thirds width of eye, posterior margin carinate; longer side of basal segment of flagellum equal in length to segment 2, segment 3 much shorter, not much longer than broad; mandibles slender and simple; wings hyaline basally, becoming quite deeply infuscated apically and in marginal cell, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd and 3rd subequal anteriorly, veins and stigma piceous, basal vein interstitial with transverse median; tegulae deeply, distinctly and rather closely punctate, somewhat more sparsely so on outer and posterior margins; posterior margin of scutellum distinctly depressed medially; front coxal spines slender and elongate, quite densely pubescent; apex of hind tibiae with a row of four or five elongate, robust, piceous setae; general body color red, scape and basal segment of flagellum more reddish-testaceous, and a small amount of black around ocelli, head otherwise entirely red; lateral faces of propodeum black in large part, with a small reddish maculation posteriorly, and posterior face black below the triangle; scutum with an indistinct, median black line, the tubercles and tegulae somewhat tinged with yellow, thorax otherwise entirely deep red; front and mid legs somewhat more testaceous, hind legs more reddish, spurs pale yellow; abdomen entirely red, without maculations, apical margins of 2-4 becoming somewhat yellowish-hyaline; punctures deep, distinct, close and rather coarse over most of face, vertex and cheeks, only the supraclypeal area and clypeus very minutely and closely punctate; thorax rugoso-punctate in large part, coarsely so on pleura and scutum, very finely so on scutellum, lateral faces of propodeum somewhat smoother but dull, shallowly and rather finely rugose, posterior face more coarsely rugose below, the triangle smooth and impunctate but dull; basal abdominal tergum minutely and rather closely punctate apically, becoming more minutely, obscurely and more sparsely punctate basally; terga 2-5 with deep, distinct, rather fine and close punctures basally, these somewhat coarser and more widely separated but not sparse toward apical margins, only the narrow apical rims impunctate; pseudopygidium transverse, very narrow, forming the truncate apical margin of tergum 5, densely covered with short, more or less erect, silvery tomentum; sternum 5 with lateral tufts of robust elongate hairs on each side of midline apically; pubescence in general extremely short, thin and sparse, somewhat more evident on face, cheeks, thorax laterally and beneath, entirely whitish where visible.
MALE—Length 7-9 mm.; lateral ocelli much nearer margin of vertex than to each other; cheeks about two-thirds width of eye, posterior margin rounded, not carinate; antennal scape strongly swollen, apex deeply excavated and completely enclosing pedicel, basal segment of flagellum much shorter than segment 2, about equal to segment 3 which has a minute, short but distinct spine beneath, following segments more or less spinose or nodulose beneath; mandibles slender and simple apically; wings hyaline basally, becoming rather deeply infuscated apically, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd and 3rd about equal anteriorly, veins and stigma piceous, basal vein interstitial or nearly with transverse median; tegulae closely, deeply, distinctly and quite uniformly punctate; posterior margin of scutellum quite deeply impressed medially; front coxal spines slender and elongate, rather densely pubescent; lower surface of hind femora flattened and more or less concave, posterior margin subcarinate; clypeus, labrum, mandibles except tips, lateral face marks, lower half of supraclypeal area, and scape anteriorly, bright yellow, head otherwise entirely black, lateral face marks ending narrowly on eye margin at level of antennae; antennal flagellum more testaceous basally, becoming somewhat reddish apically; tubercles, tegulae, front and mid legs largely reddish-testaceous, hind legs more reddish, spurs pale yellow; pronotal collar with a pair of inconspicuous yellow maculations, thorax otherwise black; abdomen black with reddish infusions and conspicuous yellow maculations, those on basal tergum small, submedian and lateral, widely separated; tergum 2 with a pair of large, cuneiform, lateral maculations which are widely separated medially, the disc black, apical impressed areas becoming somewhat reddened; tergum 3 with a pair of more elongate, subtriangular lateral maculations which are rather widely separated medially, disc black, apical impressed rim more reddish; terga 4-6 with entire, transverse bands which are more or less submedian in position, apical rims distinctly reddish-hyaline; abdominal sterna blackish basally, apical rims broadly yellowish-hyaline; face above antennae and vertex coarsely, closely and deeply punctate, cheeks much more finely so, becoming rather finely rugose beneath, the lower maculated areas of face more sparsely and finely punctate, clypeus very minutely and densely so; thorax densely rugoso-punctate, coarsely so on mesopleura and scutum, finely so on scutellum, lateral faces of propodeum dull, shallowly and closely rugose or reticulate, posterior face becoming somewhat more coarsely so, triangle impunctate but densely tessellate; basal abdominal tergum finely, deeply, distinctly and rather closely punctate apically, punctures becoming very minute and indistinct on the shining base; punctures of terga 2-6 rather fine, close, deep and distinct basally, becoming somewhat coarser and more widely separated but not sparse apically, only the very narrow, apical margins impunctate, these somewhat broader on the more apical terga; basal width of pygidial plate about equal to median length, strongly narrowed apically and deeply, triangularly emarginate, lateral margins carinate, surface deeply, distinctly and rather coarsely punctate basally, becoming very closely and more finely so apically; sternum 5 with a dense, subapical fringe of elongate pale hairs; sternum 6 with a dense tuft of more erect, elongate hairs on each side of apex, and with a broader median fringe of somewhat shorter erect hairs; sternum 8 and genital armature similar to rubicunda (figs. 103 & 104); pubescence short, entirely pale, rather copious on head and thorax, hiding surface only beneath, extremely short over most of abdomen but somewhat more dense on sternal plates.
DISTRIBUTION and FLOWER RECORDS
Holotype: Female, Highlands Hammock State Park, Fla., April 5, 1959 (Mitchell, on Bidens). Allotype: Male, topotypical. [both author’s coil.]. Paratypes: 3 females, 1 male, topotypical. FLORIDA: 2 females, Gainesville, April 13, 1924 (G. B. Merrill); 1 female, Lake Co., April 11, 1960 (H. V. Weems, Jr.); 1 male, Lake Co., April 6, 1956 (R. A. Morse, on Erigeron quercifolius). GEORGIA: 1 female, Fort Gordon, Richmond Co., April 26, 1959 (R. R. Snelling). SOUTH CAROLINA: 3 females, Dewees Is., April 29 (J. Bequaert). NORTH CAROLINA: 3 females, Sampson Co., April 13, 1954; 2 males Ivanhoe, April 5, 1945 (on hex); 1 female, Pettigrew State Park, May 27, 1959 (on Erigeron); 1 female, Raleigh, May 2, 1948 (on Senecio); 1 female, Faison, April 20, 1955 (on Fragaria) (all Mitchell) ; 1 female, Raleigh, May 8, 1923 (C. S. Brimley); 1 female, Raleigh, May 17, 1951 (R. L. Sullivan); 1 male, Duplin Co., April 21, 1955 (D. A. Becker). NEW YORK: 1 male, Oliverea, June 18, 1934, (H. Dietrich). INDIANA: 1 male, Tippecanoe Co., May 22, 1956 (Montgomery, on Gypsophila oldhamiana).
Paratypes are in collections of the Florida Plant Board, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cornell University, Purdue University, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, R. R. Snelling and the author.
This species is very close to articulate but seems to be distinct, even though the ranges of the two overlap. In the female the elongate, apical bristles of the hind tibiae will separate this species from articulata, but in the male the differences are primarily of color.
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