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Identification Note: There are two forms of this species, which could very well be different species. Florida specimens tend towards thinner and less extensive hair white hair bands throughout the body.
Also note that there is a little tiny ridge that extends only about 1/4 of the way from the center of the base of the scutellum, this may be unique to this species.
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 12 mm.; black, tegulae yellowish-hyaline, mandibles except the teeth, labrum in part, legs except coxae, basal abdominal tergum and all of the sterna, ferruginous; eyes somewhat convergent below; lateral ocelli slightly nearer margin of vertex than to each other, considerably more distant from eyes; cheeks very narrow above, becoming even narrower below, neither angulate nor excavated below; clypeus flat, apical margin straight, densely fringed with elongate, densely plumose pubescence; median length and basal width of labrum subequal; median tooth of mandibles conspicuous; punctures deep and distinct, slightly separated across vertex and between ocelli, a shining, slightly elevated, impunctate space between upper end of eye and lateral ocelli, and a similar elevated impunctate area more or less surrounding anterior ocellus and extending down nearly to level of antennae; other areas of face and clypeus beneath pubescence finely rugose, cheeks rather coarsely rugoso-punctate, becoming finely so below; pubescence of head and thorax entirely pale, very short, subappressed and pale yellowish on face and clypeus, more whitish on cheeks, pleura prominently fringed on both margins with dense, whitish pubescence, the scutello-mesothoracic suture with a dense and conspicuous line of yellowish tomentum, the lateral margins adjacent to tegulae, yellowish tomentose, and scutum with a pair of anterior, transverse, tomentose bands which are slightly separated medially; pubescence of propodeum rather short but copious, entirely yellowish-white and erect; transverse carinae of tubercles erect and conspicuous, extended somewhat along anterior margin of scutum; posterior margin of scutellum slightly outcurved, posterior and dorsal faces quite distinct; axillae rather short but acute, projecting rather conspicuously from margin of scutellum, length not exceeding median length of scutellum; front coxal spines reduced to very low, triangularly carinate tubercles that are densely pubescent posteriorly; wings subhyaline basally becoming lightly infuscated apically, recurrent veins reaching 2nd submarginal cell subequally distant from base and apex; punctures of scutum coarse, deep and distinct, rather uniformly close but not crowded; dorsal face of scutellum irregularly and closely punctate, with some irregular intervening spaces evident; axillae coarsely and closely punctate or reticulate; pleura below shining, punctures variable and irregular, of two rather distinct sizes, with evident, shining, intervening spaces, becoming quite coarsely reticulate just below tegulae; lateral faces of propodeum somewhat smoother but very dull, minutely, obscurely and closely punctate, posterior face somewhat more shining, punctures irregularly scattered and very minute, dorsal area more shining or velvety, becoming rather deeply and coarsely but narrowly striate along upper margin; basal abdominal tergum shining, entirely ferruginous, punctures deep, distinct, quite coarse and sparse, becoming finer and closer toward the slightly depressed, apical rim, this with an entire, rather narrow, pale yellowish fascia; transverse grooves of terga 2-4 sub-basal and quite evident toward the sides but obliterated medially, punctures basad of the grooves, rather deep, distinct, close and rather coarse, only slightly separated in median area, the more apical portions of the discs beyond the grooves largely shining and impunctate, but with punctures becoming evident toward the rims and toward the lateral margins, apical rims depressed, with entire, pale yellowish fasciae; tergum 5 somewhat depressed toward base and rather closely punctate across base, becoming very sparsely punctate medially, punctures becoming more numerous toward the depressed rim and the extreme sides, the rim bearing a nearly complete, dense, pale yellowish fascia; tergum 6 elongate triangular in outline, slightly incurved near center of each side, the sides slightly excavated at this point, but not at all angulate, a narrow, median, longitudinal, impunctate line from base continuous with a distinctly raised, median ridge toward apex, surface slightly but not deeply excavated on each side, tip very narrowly rounded, the more basal punctures fine, well separated medially, becoming somewhat closer toward sides and apically, the tip dull but rather smooth (fig. 65); sternum 6 narrow and elongate, somewhat exceeding the tergum in length, with a pair of distinct notches toward the tip, length of this apical part considerably greater than width at the notches, tip narrowly rounded; sterna 1-4 shining, ferruginous, with deep, distinct and well separated punctures, these becoming somewhat closer at extreme sides, apical margins depressed, yellowish-hyaline, loosely white fasciate; sternum 5 broadly triangular in outline, closely punctate at base but punctures becoming minute and indefinite toward the apical, angulate tip, the oblique sides with a rather dense but narrow fringe of whitish pubescence.
MALE—Length 12 mm.; black, tegulae ferruginous-hyaline, mandibles except tips, entire leg except coxae, basal abdominal tergum and most of the abdominal sterna bright ferruginous; eyes rather strongly convergent below; lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes and margin of vertex, slightly nearer each other; cheeks considerably narrower than eyes, carinate posteriorly, shallowly excavated or concave below, but this area densely tomentose, with an elongate posterior fringe; clypeus nearly flat, margin nearly straight; median length of labrum somewhat greater than basal width; median tooth of mandible very low and inconspicuous, hardly evident; punctures deep and distinct, slightly separated but not sparse across vertex, a narrow, shining, impunctate, somewhat raised space between upper end of eye and lateral ocelli, and anterior ocellus partially surrounded by a similar raised impunctate area; cheeks rather finely rugose, becoming closely but more distinctly punctate above; surface of face and clypeus beneath the dense pubescence very finely rugose; pubescence very short, entirely pale on head and thorax, yellowish and rather copious around antennae, becoming appressed and dense over entire lower half of face and clypeus, cheeks more thinly white pubescent, quite dense on each side of hypostome; margins of pleura fringed with dense, whitish pubescence, the scutello-mesothoracic suture quite densely yellowish tomentose, lateral margins of scutum similarly tomentose and scutum with a pair of transverse, anterior lines of yellowish tomentum that are nearly or quite contiguous medially; pubescence of pleura more erect and thin, largely yellowish-white; transverse carinae of tubercles erect and conspicuous, yellowish-hyaline, produced slightly along anterior margin of scutum; posterior margin of scutellum gently outcurved, the posterior and dorsal faces quite distinct; axillae prominantly produced apically, this projection strongly compressed and rounded as seen from the side, acute as seen from above; coxal spines well developed, slender, moderately elongate, narrowly rounded at tip, the coxae completely covered with dense, whitish pubescence; wings subhyaline basally, becoming lightly infuscated apically, recurrent veins reaching 2nd submarginal cell subequally distant from base and apex; scutum shining between coarse, deep and distinct punctures, these slightly separated over most of disc, but becoming somewhat closer at extreme sides and toward the transverse tomentose bands; dorsal face of scutellum and axillae closely and rather deeply punctate, punctures slightly but not widely separated, contiguous in part; pleura shining below, punctures of two distinct sizes, at least slightly separated, becoming coarsely reticulate above, just below tegulae; lateral faces of propodeum smooth but dull, minutely an4 obscurely punctate, posterior face somewhat more shining, punctures very fine, irregularly scattered and obscure, dorsal area velvety but somewhat shining, the narrow upper margin with a row of quite distinct, short striations; basal abdominal tergum entirely ferruginous, rather deeply, closely punctate medially, punctures becoming much more coarse and sparse toward each side, apical margin with a complete, pale yellowish fascia, the tergum subcarinate at each extreme side; transverse grooves of terga 2 and 3 obliterated medially, quite distinct laterally, sub-basal at extreme sides but becoming more nearly median toward the mid line, the more basal punctures of the disc rather deep, distinct, close laterally becoming more widely separated medially, the apical margin of groove on each side rather narrowly shining and impunctate, disc rather deeply punctate between this and the depressed apical rims, these densely yellowish fasciate at the sides, becoming very thin or interrupted medially, groove of tergum 3 pale tomentose in part; terga 4 and 5 with basal transverse grooves, these densely tomentose, the more apical portions of the disc beyond these grooves impunctate in part, but becoming rather closely punctate along the depressed rims, these with apical fasciae evident at the sides; tergum 6 shining, densely tomentose across base, punctures very fine, irregularly scattered on the median area, becoming rather coarse on each side where they are to some degree separated, disc with a deep, median excavation just before tip, the dorsal protuberances slightly divergent, short but acute, ventral spines more elongate and slender, very slightly divergent, lateral spines short but distinct and acute (fig. 66); abdominal sterna 1-4 ferruginous, shining, deeply, distinctly and rather coarsely punctate, punctures only slightly separated in median area, close laterally, apical margins slightly depressed, yellowish-hyaline, densely clothed with rather loose, whitish pubescence; sternum 5 fully exposed, broadly rounded, apical median area shallowly depressed, apical margins depressed and distinctly fasciate on each side of center; sterna 6 and 8 entirely retracted, submembraneous, 8 strongly narrowed apically; penis valves of genital armature very short, considerably exceeded by the somewhat compressed gonocoxites, these with numerous, fine but rather elongate, erect hairs.
DISTRIBUTION—Texas to Georgia and North Carolina; June to September.
FLOWER RECORDS—Helianthus, Phaseolus and Strophostyles.
Coelioxys slossoni slossoni
This form is very similar to arenicola, showing no evident structural differences. In this typical form the abdomen is almost entirely ferruginous, lacking the black tergal plates of segments 2-6 of arenicola. In the male, also, there is a tendency to a more complete ferruginous color of the abdominal terga, but in some cases it is about the same as in arenicola.
DISTRIBUTION — Florida; March to September.
FLOWER RECORD—Bidens.
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