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 mm.; blue, legs mostly black; face somewhat longer than distance between eyes above; eyes slightly convergent below; lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes and each other, very slightly nearer margin of vertex; clypeus convex, considerably produced apically, margin nearly straight medially, narrowly smooth and impunctate; median length of labrum about equal to its basal width; mandibles obscurely 4-dentate (much as in cordata, fig. 32); cheeks subequal to eyes in width; wings hyaline basally, becoming lightly infuscated along apical margin, 2nd recurrent vein reaching 2nd submarginal cell slightly nearer apex than 1st does to base; tarsal segments simple and unmodified, mid and hind spurs piceous; pubescence of head and thorax yellowish-white above, becoming more whitish below, rather long but thin, not hiding surface, somewhat more copious around wing bases; scopa entirely white, pubescence of basal abdominal tergum entirely white, rather elongate, discal pubescence of the following terga very short and thin but erect, entirely white, tending to form whitish, apical fringes on the more apical terga; tergum 6 with rather dense, subappressed, whitish pubescence; punctures in general quite coarse, deep and distinct, close over most of head, becoming crowded between antennae and eyes, very coarse and deep on upper portion of clypeus, becoming somewhat more fine and shallow apically; scutum closely punctate anteriorly and laterally, becoming rather sparsely punctate in center of disc, punctures of scutellum distinctly but not widely separated, with a narrow, median, impunctate line; pleura dull, punctures subcontiguous, rather shallow; lateral faces of propodeum dull, very finely reticulate, posterior face becoming more tessellate, with shallow, obscure, scattered punctures, dorsal area more velvety, upper margin rather broadly but very finely sub- striate; punctures of abdominal terga fine and well separated on 2 and 3 medially, becoming somewhat coarser and closer at each side, basal tergum rather coarsely punctate across base and at sides, becoming more finely but still closely punctate medially, punctures of 4 and 5 somewhat more coarse and irregular, slightly but not widely separated, 6 with dense, fine, crowded punctures, apical margins of terga only faintly depressed, punctures fine and evenly distributed, nearly or quite reaching apical rims.
MALE—Length 7-8 mm.; bluish-green; face considerably longer than distance between eyes above; eyes very slightly convergent below; lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes, from each other, and from margin of vertex; clypeus convex, considerably produced apically, margin very slightly outcurved, narrowly shining and impunctate; median length of labrum considerably less than basal width; mandible bidentate; cheeks slightly narrower than eyes; wings subhyaline, 2nd recurrent vein reaching 2nd submarginal cell slightly nearer apex than 1st does to base; basal segments of legs with metallic reflections, otherwise black, tarsal segments slender and simple, anterior margin of hind basitarsus with a fine, submedian tubercle, mid and hind spurs piceous; pubescence of head and thorax yellowish- white, rather copious and erect on face, vertex and dorsum of thorax, elongate on basal abdominal tergum, discs of the following terga with very thin, short, erect, entirely pale pubescence, tending to form obscure, pale fringes on the more apical terga; punctures in general quite deep and distinct, rather fine, close over most of head, becoming densely crowded below ocelli, between and around antennae, and over most of clypeus; punctures close but not crowded over most of scutum, becoming rather dense around anterior and lateral margins, close but distinct on scutellum, but becoming densely crowded and obscure around posterior margin, subcontiguous on pleura, but this somewhat shining, the metapleura shining and largely impunctate; lateral faces of propodeum dull and tessellate or subreticulate, posterior face tessellate, with shallow, obscure, scattered punctures, dorsal area densely tessellate, becoming very finely and irregularly sub- striate along upper margin; abdominal terga shining, punctures fine and distinctly separated medially on 2-4, rather coarse across base of 1, these becoming more closely and deeply punctate toward sides, apical margins rather broadly impressed, invaded by very fine and rather well separated punctures, the rims only narrowly shining and impunctate, punctures of 5 and 6 rather irregular, more or less separated, becoming rather sparse across apical portion of 6; apical margin of tergum 6 with a shallow, median emargination, 7 somewhat produced medially, with a shallow, median emargination; sternum 2 broadly outcurved apically, largely covering 3 and basal portion of 4, 3 with a rather narrow, median emargination, this with a fringe of rather short, converging hairs which do not meet medially (fig. 33); apical margin of sternum 4 broadly outcurved, surface rather finely and evenly setose (fig. 34), 5-8 entirely retracted, submembraneous; genital armature resembling that of albiventris (fig. 35), apex of gonocoxite as shown (fig. 31).
DISTRIBUTION — Minnesota to Quebec and the New England states, south to Georgia, April to July.
FLOWER RECORDS — Barbarea, Claytonia, Crataegus, Geranium, Houstonia, Malus, Melilotus, Pedicularis, Pent stemon, Rubus, Taraxacum, Trifolium, Vaccinium, Viburnum and Vicia. This has been recorded by Robertson (1929) on the following:
Anemonella, Antennaria, Arabic, Astragalus, Camassia, Cardamine, Cercis, Chaerophyllum, Collinsia, Comandra, Cornus, Dentaria, Diospyros, Ellisia, Erigenia, Erythronium, Fragaria, Isopyrum, Krigia, Malva, Mertensia, Nepeta, Oxalis, Polemonium, Potentilla, Ranunculus, Ribes, Rosa, Salix, Sassafras, Scutellaria, Sic yrinchium, Smilax, Viola, Zanthoxylum and Zizia.
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