Identification Tip: In the female look for pits going all the way to very edge of the tergites, and on T1 and T2 look for distinct bands of bright white hairs that form a short band on the far sides of the rims. Unlike the vague hair bands on other species, the hair here is so dense that you can't see the segment below, but note that the band is absent in the central half of the rim.
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.; head and thorax bluish, with a slightly greenish tinge dorsally, abdomen somewhat more greenish; face considerably longer than distance between eyes above; eyes very slightly convergent below; lateral ocelli subequally distant from margin vertex and each other, slightly closer to eyes; clypeus slightly convex, median area rather abruptly produced apically, this portion nearly straight; median length of labrum about equal to its basal width, somewhat narrowly rounded apically, with a distinct, transverse, median, setose area, otherwise shining and with a row of apical setae; mandibles distinctly tridentate, middle tooth about equally distant from apex and inner angle (fig. 32); cheeks somewhat broader than eyes; front of head not tuberculate; wings lightly infuscated, 2nd recurrent vein reaching 2nd submarginal cell much nearer apex than 1st does to base; tarsal segments of legs simple and unmodified, basitarsi not quite equalling combined length of the following segments, front spurs yellowish-hyaline, mid and hind spurs piceous or black; pubescence, including scopa, entirely white, rather short and thin general, forming rather distinct, whitish, apical fasciae toward sides on abdominal terga and 2; punctures quite coarse, deep and distinct in general, close on vertex and face above antennae, becoming crowded and quite coarse clypeus, somewhat finer but close on cheeks and on scutum anteriorly, becoming slightly coarser posteriorly, quite coarse and rather well separated on the shining scutellum; punctures of pleura close and coarse but not crowded, interspaces somewhat shining; propodeum somewhat shining, punctures finer but quite deep, distinct and close, dorsal area becoming finely reticulate along upper margin; punctures of abdominal terga medially rather fine, rather wide separated on 2 and 3, becoming closer and coarser toward sides, uniformly quite close and coarse on 4 and 5, rather fine and densely crowded on 6, punctures reaching apical margin, rims of 2-5 with a single row of very fine and close but deep and distinct punctures.
MALE — Length 7 mm.; bluish-green, front of face somewhat more olive green; face somewhat longer than distance between eyes above; eyes very slightly convergent below; lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes, each other, and margin of vertex; clypeus very slightly convex, apical margin rather narrowly produced medially, this area nearly straight, shining and impunctate; median length of labrum about equal to basal width; mandibles distinctly bidentate; cheeks only very slightly broader than eyes; wings faintly infuscated, 2nd recurrent vein reaching 2nd submarginal cell much nearer apex than 1st does to base; tarsal segments of legs slender and simple, hind basitarsi without a median denticle, mid and hind spurs piceous; pubescence entirely whitish, dense and erect on clypeus, forming rather distinct, apical fasciae on the more basal abdominal terga, these more or less interrupted medially; punctures deep and distinct, rather coarse in general, coarse on vertex and face above antennae, becoming finer, densely crowded and obscure below antennae and on clypeus, coarse and almost crowded on cheeks; punctures close over most of scutum, somewhat coarser posteriorly, quite coarse and close on scutellum, coarse and almost crowded on pleura; propodeum shining, with rather close and distinct punctures; abdominal terga more finely punctate, rather uniformly close across discs of terga 1-5, somewhat coarser and deeper on 6, close and irregular on 7; lateral angles of tergum 6 rather broadly rounded; median, semicircular emargination of 7 delimited by a pair of rather narrow, blunt processes (fig. 29); sternum 2 broadly rounded apically, largely covering sterna 3 and 4, apical margins of these exposed, form as shown (fig. 29), 5-8 entirely retracted, 5 and 6 but slightly modified, 7 and 8 much reduced, resembling those of conjuncta; apex of gonocoxites strongly angulate on outer side, as shown.
DISTRIBUTION—According to Michener (1949), typical subfasciata occurs from northern Mexico and Texas to Kansas, and east to Mississippi and Tennessee. He was doubtful of a New Jersey record. It is now known to occur from Florida to North Carolina, and the New Jersey record is probably correct. It is in flight from March to June.
FLOWER RECORDS — Brassica and Rubus. It is also recorded by Michener (1947 & 1949) on Achillea, Astragalus, Cercis, Coreopsis,Gaillardia, Helianthus, Marilaunidium, Moncirda and Prunus. This species was found nesting in a house at Waynesville, North Carolina, in burrows of Hylotrupes bajulus. It was at first thought that a dark blue form of subfasciata occurring in South Florida represented Robertson’s conjunctoides. However, the type of conjunctoides has been seen and compared with typical subfasciata from North Carolina and no differences can be detected. It appears, therefore, that conjunctoides is a synonym of subfasciata, and the darker blue South Florida form, if it is distinct, should be designated by another name. This, together with the chief differences, follows.
Osmia (Diceratosmia) subfasciata miamiensis
FEMALE — Length 10 mm.; deep blue to purplish; punctures of vertex and dorsum of thorax finer and much closer, being densely crowded on scutum anteriorly; pleura dull, punctures rather coarse but densely crowded, wings somewhat more deeply infuscated.
MALE — Resembles female in color, size and relative density of punctures; terga 6 and 7, and abdominal sterna similar to those in subfasciata (fig. 29).
TYPE — Holotype: Female, Cape Florida, Fla., Feb. 15, 1925 (S. Graenicher, on Crotalaria.) [author’s coil.] Allotype: (head missing), Miami Beach, Fla., Feb. 8, 1917 (Graenicher). Paratypes: 2 ♀♀, topotypical.
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