Identification Summary: The male is one of the few species with a thorn-like spine on the udnerside of F3 and looks quite different from the female in terms of coloration, with large and vivid yellow patches and bands on the tergites as well as bright yellonw on the axillae and scutellum; Female is almost entirely red with small amounts of black on the propodeum and top of the head; rear tibia with a single large blade like setae that juts off at an angle sideways from the edge of the tibia.
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 8.5-9.5 mm.; lateral ocelli considerably nearer margin of vertex than to each other; cheeks somewhat more than half width of eyes, posterior margin conspicuously carinate; longer side of basal segment of flagellum about equal to segment 2, median segments slightly longer than broad; mandibles slender and simple; wings subhyaline basally, becoming quite deeply infuscated apically and in marginal cell, but with a quite distinct hyaline area just beyond the discoidal and 3rd submarginal cells, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd much broader anteriorly than 3rd, veins piceous, basal vein interstitial or nearly with transverse median; tegulae uniformly deeply and finely punctate throughout, punctures crowded; posterior margin of scutellum quite deeply grooved; front coxal spines well developed, quite densely pubescent; apex of hind tibiae with a single, slightly oblique, robust, brownish and rather elongate seta; head, thorax and abdomen largely red, the scape, pedicel and basal segment of flagellum more testaceous, following segments of flagellum more brownish beneath, black above; clypeus somewhat more reddishtestaceous; front and middle legs reddish-testaceous, spurs pale yellow, hind legs more ferruginous; pronotal collar somewhat more yellowish, scutellum and axillae yellowish in large part, metapleura and adjacent margin of propodeum black, and middle and hind coxae largely black posteriorly, more or less ferruginous anteriorly; abdominal tergum 3 with a pair of small, widely separated, yellow maculations, 4 and 5 with transverse, subapical ivory bands, that on 4 rather narrow, much broader on 5, discs of these terga black, the more basal terga entirely ferruginous and the sterna entirely ferruginous; punctures coarse, deep and close on face above antennae, on vertex, cheeks, and across face between antennae and clypeal margin, clypeus very finely and closely punctate; scutum and scutellum very coarsely rugoso-punctate, pleura below more distinctly punctate, becoming coarsely rugose laterally and above; lateral faces of propodeum dull, with shallow, vague but coarse, close punctures, posterior face obscurely punctate, triangle impunctate but rather dull, becoming rather finely and irregularly striate along upper margin; basal abdominal tergum finely and closely punctate across apical half, punctures becoming more minute and somewhat more sparse toward base; terga 2-4 deeply, distinctly, rather uniformly and closely punctate throughout, only the very narrow apical rims impunctate; tergum 5 with finer and quite densely crowded punctures throughout; pseudopygidium transverse, extremely short, evident only as an apical fringe of short, dense, pale yellowish hairs; pubescence extremely short, thin and obscure, entirely whitish where evident, sternum 5 with dense, lateral tufts of long, densely plumose, fuscous hairs.
MALE—Length 7-9.5 mm.; lateral ocelli somewhat nearer margin of vertex than to each other; cheeks only slightly narrower than eyes, posterior margin carinate; antennal scape considerably swollen, apex deeply excavated and completely hiding pedicel, basal segment of flagellum much shorter than segment 2, even on longer side, median segments about as broad as long, segment 3 much shorter than 2, with a distinct but short and fine ventral spine; mandibles slender and simple;
wings hyaline basally, becoming rather densely infuscated along outer margin and in marginal cell, but with a hyaline area just beyond the discoidal and submarginal cells, with the usual three submarginals, 2nd very much broader than 3rd anteriorly, veins piceous in general, stigma somewhat more testaceous, basal vein interstitial or nearly with transverse median; tegulae uniformly deeply, closely and distinctly punctate throughout; posterior margin of scutellum rather deeply grooved or impressed medially; front coxal spines rather short, subtriangular, quite densely pubescent; hind femora unmodified; clypeus, adjacent lateral areas of face, labrum, mandibles except tips, a rather large spot on supraclypeal area, and antennal scape, bright yellow, head otherwise black; pronotal collar, tubercles, tegulae, scutellum and axillae, two spots on metanotum, and an anterior spot on mesopleura, bright yellow, thorax otherwise black; legs reddish-testaceous, spurs pale yellow, basal half of hind femora infuscated; abdominal terga with conspicuous yellow maculations, that on basal tergum interrupted medially, the resulting lateral spots with a deep emargination on apical margin, intervening area somewhat ferruginous; tergum 2 with extensive yellow maculae on each side, these very narrowly united medially, basal area of disc between them black, apical area somewhat reddened; terga 3-6 with transverse, submedian, yellow bands that are of rather uniform width, apical portion of 5 and 6 beyond the bands more ferruginous; abdominal sterna largely dark, but 3 and 4 with rather small and obscure, sublateral maculations; punctures coarse, deep and close on face above antennae, vertex and cheeks, and rather coarse and deep between antennae and clypeus, punctures of clypeus extremely minute and close, lateral areas shining, with sparse, irregular, scattered punctures; scutum, scutellum and mesopleura coarsely and densely rugoso-punctate, lateral faces of propodeum somewhat smoother but with fine, shallow and rather coarse, vague punctures, posterior face quite closely and shallowly punctate and dull, triangle impunctate, tessellate, becoming irregularly striate along upper margin; basal abdominal tergum quite closely and finely punctate apically, punctures becoming very minute and indistinct toward base; terga 2-5 with deep, distinct quite fine but close and uniform punctures throughout, only the very narrow, apical rims impunctate; pubescence very short, entirely pale but evident, whitish below, somewhat more yellowish above, hardly evident on abdomen basally, but the more apical sterna quite densely long pubescent toward apical margin, sternum 6 with a conspicuous, apical fringe of erect, more or 1ess curved, yellowish hairs; basal width of pygidial plate about equal to median length, strongly narrowed to the somewhat deeply incised apex, lateral margins carinate, surface quite closely and deeply punctate toward base, becoming very finely to minutely punctate toward tip; sternum 8 (fig. 104) broadly produced apically, rounded, the apex fringed with robust, ventrally projecting setae; gonocoxites of genital armature (fig. 103) not lobate at base, slightly angulate on inner margin medially, gonostyli slender and elongate, simple, tufted apically.
DISTRIBUTION — Michigan to New York, south to Texas and Florida, March to June.
FLOWER RECORDS — Crataegus, Fragaria, Melilotus, and Rubus.
|
