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 8.5-11 mm.; lateral ocelli subequally distant from margin of vertex and each other; cheeks about half width of eyes; shorter side of segment 1 of flagellum fully equal to segment 2, median segments about as long as broad; mandibles slender and simple; wings rather deeply infuscated, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd submarginal very broad anteriorly, 3rd strongly narrowed, veins piceous, stigma more testaceous, basal vein interstitial with transverse median vein; tegulae shining between numerous, rather fine and well separated punctures; posterior margin of scutellum shallowly depressed medially; front coxal spines well developed, somewhat obscured by pubescence; apex of hind tibiae very densely fringed with short, silvery tomentum, without elongate hairs or setae; face black except for a pair of extensive, lateral, triangular yellow maculations, reaching from slightly below upper margin of clypeus, terminating narrowly on eye margin considerably above antennae (fig. 100) ; scape of antennae yellow anteriorly, labrum somewhat reddened, and mandibles basally more or less reddishtestaceous, a very small yellow maculation behind each eye above; pronotal collar, tubercles, tegulae, two large lateral maculations on scutellum, median portion of metanotum, a pair of rather small maculations on pleura which are more or less connected, and a spot on each side of posterior face of propodeum, bright yellow; scutellum black medially and along basal margin; abdominal terga 1-5 with transverse, subapical, yellow bands which are more or less strongly constricted medially, more or less interrupted on 3-5, much broadened at each side; abdominal sterna entirely black; punctures coarse, deep and close on face above and vertex, becoming somewhat finer but close on cheeks below, finer and quite sparse on lateral areas of face below, somewhat closer on supraclypeal area, finer and irregular on shining clypeus; scutum quite coarsely and closely rugoso-punctate, punctures somewhat more distinct across median area of disc, finer and densely crowded on black areas of scutellum, more coarse and distinct on each side, coarse and deep but slightly
separated on pleura below, becoming quite densely crowded above; lateral faces of propodeum rather dull, shallowly and rather finely and irregularly punctate, posterior face quite closely and shallowly punctate, triangle entirely impunctate, rather smooth but quite densely tessellate; basal abdominal tergum shining, minutely but quite closely punctate toward base, punctures toward apical margin deeper, more distinct and quite close; discs of terga 2-5 deeply, distinctly, rather finely and closely punctate, punctures becoming somewhat more sparse and minute toward the narrowly impunctate apical rims; pseudopygidium transverse, forming the truncate apical margin of tergum 5, rather extensive, deeply covered with pale yellowish tomentum; pubescence extremely short, thin and obscure, hardly evident, entirely pale where visible.
MALE—Length 7.5-11 mm.; lateral ocelli subequally distant from margin of vertex and each other; cheeks slightly more than half width of eyes; shorter side of segment 1 of flagellum slightly longer than segment 2, median segments considerably broader than long; mandibles slender and simple; wings rather lightly infuscated basally, becoming quite deeply so apically, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd very broad anteriorly, 3rd much narrowed, veins testaceous to piceous, stigma more testaceous, basal vein interstitial with transverse median; tegulae shining, with only a very few, minute, scattered punctures; posterior margin of scutellum quite deeply impressed medially; front coxal spines elongate and slender, somewhat obscured by pubescence; hind femora unmodified; face, including labrum and mandibles except tips, almost entirely yellow below level of antennae, only upper half of supraclypeal area black, and with some black in lateral clypeal sutures, the yellow face marks ending triangularly on eye margin near top of eyes (fig. 100); scape of antennae bright yellow anteriorly, and cheek narrowly yellow on posterior margin of eye above; pronotal collar, tubercles, tegulae, scutellum except in mid-line, adjacent area of metanotum, a maculation on each side of posterior face of propodeum, and a large transverse maculation on pleura, bright yellow; legs testaceous basally, tibiae yellow in part, and basitarsi bright yellow, the more apical tarsal segments more testaceous, spurs pale yellow; abdominal terga 1-6 with transverse, subapical, bright yellow bands which are more or less narrowed medially, sometimes narrowly interrupted, quite broad laterally; abdominal sterna entirely black; punctures coarse, deep, distinct and somewhat separated over most of face, somewhat more sparse on each side below antennae, somewhat finer and closer but still distinctly separated clypeus, much finer and quite close on cheeks; scutum coarsely rugoso-punctate, with only a few shining interspaces evident near central portion of disc, the maculated areas of scutellum coarsely and distinctly punctate, blackened mid-line and anterior margin densely and finely rugose; pleura with coarse, deep, distinct and slightly separated punctures in large part, these becoming considerably closer above adjacent to tubercles; lateral faces of propodeum rather dull, very finely, shallowly and rather irregularly punctate, punctures of posterior face somewhat deeper and more distinct but quite close, triangle impunctate but dull and tessellate; tergum 1 shining and very minutely punctate basally, punctures becoming more distinct in the yellow transverse band and beyond; terga 2-6 with deep, distinct, close and rather fine, uniformly distributed punctures, these becoming somewhat sparser and finer to the narrow impunctate rims; pubescence extremely short, thin and obscure, hardly evident in general, entirely pale where visible; pygidial plate somewhat broader at base than the median length, quite strongly narrowed apically, apex deeply incised, lateral margins carinate, surface rather dull, quite closely but shallowly punctate; sternum 8 with a median, apical projection which is slightly narrowed apically, setose toward the tip, the apical setae elongate; gonocoxites of genital armature (fig. 101) not setose beneath, base with a broad, subtruncate lobe, gonostyli tufted apically.
DISTRIBUTION—New York to Alabama, June to September.
FLOWER RECORDS — Cephalanthus, Cucurbita, Helenium, Rhus and Solidago.
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