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 9-12 mm.; lateral ocelli very slightly nearer margin of vertex than to each other; cheeks nearly equal to eyes in width, posterior margin subcarinate; basal segment of flagellum fully equal to eyes in width, posterior margin subcarinate; basal segment of flagellum fully equal to segment 2, median segments only slightly longer than broad; mandibles robust, simple; wings lightly infuscated, somewhat more deeply so apically, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd and 3rd subequal and rather narrow anteriorly, veins piceous, basal vein considerably basad of transverse median; tegulae shining between very fine punctures, these rather close anteriorly and along inner margin, becoming quite sparse on the outer and posterior margins; posterior margin of scutellum rather deeply depressed medially; front coxae not spined; apex of hind tibiae with a row of short and rather fine yellowish setae; face largely yellow below level of antennae, upper half of supraclypeal area black, lateral yellow areas ending narrowly at upper end of eye, upper part of face, vertex and most of cheeks black, cheeks with a narrow yellow band along posterior margin of eye nearly to top; antennal scape yellow anteriorly, flagellum brownish-testaceous beneath, somewhat more piceous above; pronotal collar, tubercles, tegulae, scutellum except anterior margin, a small median spot on metanotum, and a small anterior maculation on pleura, bright yellow, the pleural maculations becoming ferruginous above; femora largely testaceous, tibiae, tarsi and spurs yellow; abdominal terga 1-5 with broad, transverse, entire, yellow bands, those on 2 and 3 slightly narrowed medially, basal and apical areas piceous or dull reddish; abdominal sterna largely red, becoming somewhat yellowish in part; face above antennae, vertex and cheeks coarsely and deeply rugosopunctate, the lateral punctures below somewhat more distinct and separated, becoming quite sparse on malar space, clypeus and supraclypeal area with very minute, densely crowded punctures; scutum and mesopleura densely and rather coarsely rugoso-punctate, scutellum with coarse, deep and more distinct punctures, metapleura somewhat more finely rugose, the lateral and posterior faces of propodeum quite coarsely and regularly rugose, triangle impunctate but densely tessellate, becoming irregularly striate along upper margin; abdominal terga minutely and very closely punctate throughout, but the more basal punctures of basal tergum becoming hardly visible, the more apical punctures on the more ml terga becoming somewhat coarser and more definitely separated, apical rims narrowly impunctate; pseudopygidium transverse, forming the truncate apical margin of tergum median length somewhat more than one- the breadth, densely covered with short tomentum; pubescence very short and rather copious over head and thorax, en- pale, hardly visible on abdomen dorsaly sterna more evidently pubescent, sternum 5 with a dense tuft of elongate hairs on each side of mid-line apically.
MALE- Length 11-12 mm.; lateral ocelli considerably nearer margin of vertex than to each other; cheeks fully equal to eyes in width, not noticeably carinate posteriorly; antennal scape slightly swollen, apex deeply excavated and largely enclosing the pedicel, basal segment of flagellum fully equal to segment 2, median segments about as broad as long; mandibles robust and simple; wings hyaline basally, becoming lightly infuscated apically, with the usual three submarginal cells, veins testaceous to brownish, 2nd and 3rd submarginal cells subequal and rather narrow anteriorly, basal vein usually somewhat basad of transverse median; tegulae shining, punctures minute and rather indistinct, close along inner margin, becoming rather sparse laterally and posteriorly; posterior margin of scutellum slightly impressed medially; front coxae not spined; hind femora not modified; face entirely yellow below level of antennae, scape bright yellow, upper part of face, vertex and cheeks entirely black; pronotal collar, tubercles, tegulae, a pair of small maculations on scutellum, and a very small yellow spot on pleura anteriorly, bright yellow; thorax otherwise entirely black, with femora largely testaceous, tibiae and tarsi bright yellow, spurs pale yellow; abdominal terga 1-6 with broad, entire, bright yellow bands, these slightly narrowed on 2 and 3, basal and apical areas blackish, to some degree red apically on the more apical terga; abdominal sterna more or less reddish, with transverse, sub-basal, yellow areas, sternum 6 almost entirely yellow; punctures of face above antennae, on vertex and on cheeks coarse, deep and close, somewhat more distinct on face laterally and below, impunctate on malar space and adjacent area, supraclypeal area and clypeus with minute, densely crowded and obscure punctures; scutum, scutellum and mesopleura densely rugosopunctate, somewhat more finely so on each side of scutum, metapleura more shallowly rugoso-punctate, propodeum quite coarsely rugose or reticulate, triangle impunctate but dull and densely tessellate, becoming irregularly rugose or striate along upper margin; abdominal terga with minute and very close punctures throughout, these becoming hardly visible on tergum 1 basally, becoming somewhat coarser and more widely separated apically on the more apical terga; pubescence entirely pale, rather copious and erect over most of head and thorax, hardly evident on abdomen dorsally, but with considerable fine, elongate, suberect pubescence ventrally, sternum 6 largely covered with rather elongate and erect, white pubescence; basal width of pygidial plate about equal to median length, quite strongly narrowed apically, apex narrowly rounded, not at all emarginate, margins carinate, surface quite closely and rather finely punctate, punctures becoming obscure apically; sternum 8 and genital armature much as in affabilis (fig. 102).
DISTRIBUTION�Kansas and Minnesota, east to Ohio and Georgia, April to July.
FLOWER RECORDS�Robertson (1929) has recorded superba on the following plant genera: Brauneria, Camassia, Cardamine, Comandra, Coreopsis, Cornus, Erigeron, Fragaria, Geranium, Heracleum, Houstonia., Krigia, Lithospermum, Melilotus, Nepeta, Nothoscordum, Oxalis, Phlox, Prunus, Ranunculus, Rubus, Salix, Senecio, Sisyrinchium, Stachys, Stellaria, Trifolium and Zizia.
Another form of this species, malvastri Swenk, from Nebraska makes this sub- specific designation of superba necessary.
Reprinted from: Cresson, E. T. 1863. On the North American species of the genus Nomada. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Phil. 2:281-282
Male.�Head large ; black ; densely, somewhat deeply and confluently
punctured, the punctures more sparse and less deep on the face;
thinly clothed with whitish hairs ; sides of the face, orbits of the eyes
beneath, clypeus, labrum, a quadrate spot above the clypeus, mandibles,
except tips, lemon-yellow. Antennae, when extended back, attains the
scutellum ; fulvous, apical joint paler, scape in front yellow, behind
black. Thorax black, densely, somewhat deeply and confluently punctured
; collar, tubercles, tegulas, except a dot on the middle, a triangular
spot on the pleura, immediately behind the fore feet, and two
spots on the scutellum which is bilobate, lemon-yellow ; thinly clothed with whitish hairs beneath the wings and on the metatliorax which is
sparsely punctured. Wings hyaline, apical margins faintly stained
with fu.scous ; nervures ferruginous. Legs : coxse black, spotted with
yellow ; trochanters more or less fulvous and black ; femora fulvous,
black at their extreme base and yellow at their tips ; tibi?e and tarsi
lemon-yellow, stained with fulvous within ; claws piceous at tips. Abdomen
minutely punctured, slightly pubescent, shining, black; base
of the first segment above slightly tinged with ferruginous ; about the
middle of each segment a more or less broad lemon-yellow transverse
band, slightly attenuated in the middle and somewhat indented on the
extreme sides of the first and second segments anteriorly; apical segment
elongate, rounded at tip ; beneath piceous, hairy, with the two
first segments stained with ferruginous, the three following segments
banded with yellow and the sixth entirely yellow. Length 6 lines.
Hah. Pike's Peak. One specimen in the collection of the Entomological
Society of Philadelphia.
A most lovely species, entirely distinct from any other species of
Nomada known to me. The form is much more robust than that of
N. luteola St. Farg.
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Extracted from: Robertson, C. (1897). North American Bees - Description and Synonyms. Transactions of the Academy of Science od St. Louis. Vol. 7. No. 14.
Male - The spots on pleura auel collar often wanting. Length
10-13 mm.
Female - Resembles the male, the wings more clouded, spot on
pleura larger, sometimes another small one present; orbit
entirely borelered, or nearly so; spots on scutellum united,
sometimes also in the male a line on post-scutellum; the face
and all of the ornaments below largely tinged with rufolls,
sOI'netimes all of the ornaments are red except the bands of
abdomen above; mesonotulll black, or with two or four rufous
lines. Length 12-13 mm.
Extracted from: Swenk, M. H. 1915. The University Studies of the University of Nebraska, Vol. 15.
Additional Nebraska records are: Wyoming, June 5, 1913, on
Melilotus officinalis (M. H. Swenk), 4 FEMALE; Omaha, June 9, 1913,
on Medicago sativa (L. T. Williams), I FEMALE, I MALE ; Wymore, June
17, 1913 (R. W. Dawson), I FEMALE; Neligh, June 19, 1913 (L. T.
Williams), I FEMALE; Norfolk, June 25, 1913 (L. T. Williams), I FEMALE.
All of these eight females are typical, agreeing closely with
Robertson's diagnosis of that sex, and not approaching my
superba var. or nebrascensis.
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