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. breadth of abdomen 3.5-4.5 mm.; black, the mandibles yellowish apically, antennal flagellum more piceous beneath, apical tarsal segments somewhat brownish-piceous, spurs pale testaceous: tegulae black to piceous; wings subhyaline basally, becoming very faintly darkened apically, veins brownish to piceous; cheeks somewhat narrower than eyes; clypeus but very slightly protuberant, its median length slightly less than half the distance between eyes below; eyes slightly convergent below; shorter side of segment 2 of flagellum about half the length of segment 1; punctures of clypeus close, quite coarse and deep, those on labrum somewhat finer and closer; supraclypeal area with but a few, scattered, sparse punctures medially, lateral areas of face on each side rather finely, shallowly and quite closely punctate, upper part of face shining, very minutely punctate on each side, median area below ocelli somewhat less shining, punctures rather coarse, deep and quite sparse; vertex very finely and closely punctate behind ocelli, cheeks somewhat shining, punctures minute along eye margin, becoming somewhat coarser and deeper posteriorly; scutum shining, punctures deep and coarse, quite sparse over most of disc, but becoming finer and very close at extreme sides and along anterior margin; punctures of scutellum somewhat finer, rather uniformly close but distinct; pleura somewhat shining, punctures quite coarse and rather close throughout; posterior face of propodeum rather dull, punctures shallow, irregularly scattered and sparse, quite obscure, dorsal area dull, densely tessellate medially, becoming rather vaguely rugose on each side, lateral faces rather dull, punctures fine, shallow and obscure, obsolescent anteriorly and below; basal abdominal tergum with rather coarse and distinct punctures across base, these well separated medially, becoming somewhat closer laterally where they approach the apical margin, the broad median apical area entirely impunctate; terga 2-4 with rather fine but deep, distinct punctures across basal half of each, the broad impuncture apical areas invaded only slightly by exceedingly minute, obscure punctures, the punctures well separated medially on 2, somewhat closer on 3, and fine, almost crowded across base of 4; basal areas of 5 and 6 largely hidden; median length of pygidium very slightly greater than basal width, narrowly elongate-triangular, apex rather narrowly rounded; vertex with a transverse band of erect black hairs, intermixed with the pale at each side between antennae and eyes, face otherwise with whitish pubescence; scutum and scutellum largely covered with rather copious, erect, black pubescence, with some intermixed black hairs on tuberc1es, scutum very narrowly pale pubescent anteriorly, the pleura and propodeum entirely pale pubescent; coxae, trochanters and femora largely pale pubescent, the fore and mid tibiae with some fuscous, appressed pubescence on outer face apically, and basitarsi dark pubescent in part, the hind tibial scopa pale ochraceous, the hairs quite densely short plumose; basal abdominal tergum with rather elongate, whitish pubescence anteriorly, and some shorter pale hairs along lateral margins, the disc with some very short, suberect, fuscous pubescence toward each side; tergum 2 with a basal pale tomentose fascia and a submedian fascia that is broadly interrupted medially and borders the very broad impressed apical area, discal pubescence extremely short across base, hardly evident, the apical area entirely bare; tergum 3 with a similar but nearly complete whitish fascia, basal area with some short dark pubescence, and apical area with some similar but shorter pubescence evident toward sides; tergum 4 with short, suberect, dark pubescence basally, the apical impressed area largely covered with whitish tomentum, but this rather broadly interrupted medially along the margin; terga 5 and 6 largely dark pubescent but with some elongate pale hairs at extreme sides of 5.
MALE—Length 8-9.5 mm., breadth of abdomen 3-3.5 mm.; black, the labrum with a median yellow maculation, mandibles yellowish apically, clypeus entirely bright yellow; antennal flagellum testaceous beneath, piceous above; apical tarsal segments becoming testaceous, spurs pale yellowish; tegulae dark; wings subhyaline, veins testaceous to piceous; apical margins of abdominal terga becoming somewhat yellowish; cheeks much narrower than eyes; clypeus rather strongly protuberant, its median length somewhat greater than half the distance between eyes below; eyes rather strongly convergent below; basal segment of flagellum very short, little if any longer than pedicel, segment 2 four or five times longer than combined length of segment 1 and pedicel; punctures of clypeus rather fine, quite obscure on the yellow surface, close laterally, becoming rather well separated medially, those on labrum much finer, quite deep and close; punctures of supraclypeal area rather sparse, becoming quite fine and close toward each extreme side below antennae, face above smooth and shining laterally, punctures minute and sparse, much closer just below ocelli; vertex very finely and closely punctate behind ocelli, punctures somewhat more distinct laterally, cheeks rather coarsely and closely punctate posteriorly, the punctures becoming very minute, rather close along eye margin; scutum and scutellum somewhat shining between quite coarse, deep and distinct punctures, these rather sparse on posterior half of scutum medially, becoming somewhat closer laterally and anteriorly, those on scutellum about equally coarse, well separated but hardly sparse; pleura somewhat shining, punctures rather deep and distinct, rather coarse, slightly separated in large part; posterior face of propodeum dull, punctures shallow and rather vague, irregularly scattered, dorsal area becoming rather coarsely rugoso-striate on each side, lateral faces dull but rather smooth, punctures very shallow becoming obsolescent anteriorly and below; basal abdominal tergum with rather coarse but shallow punctures, these rather well separated medially, becoming somewhat finer and closer at extreme sides where they approach the apical margin, becoming quite sparse and minute across the median apical area, only the narrow apical margin entirely impunctate; terga 2-4 very finely but rather distinctly punctate across base, punctures well separated medially, somewhat closer on 4, apical impressed areas with only exceedingly minute, obscure, scattered punctures evident; tergum 5 punctured much as 4 across base, with a rather obscure and obtuse apical angle at each extreme side; tergum 6 with a corresponding, triangular, apical spine; pubescence of head copious, erect and entirely whitish; scutum and scutellum with abundant, erect, fuscous or blackish pubescence, the anterior third of scutum with pale pubescence, and entire pleura, propodeum and legs pale pubescent; basal abdominal tergum with copious, elongate, pale pubescence over anterior half and laterally, the disc posteriorly with some short, suberect and rather inconspicuous, blackish pubescence; tergum 2 with a rather thin and inconspicuous, basal, whitish fascia, and with a submedian fascia that is interrupted medially and borders the apical impressed area, the disc otherwise with short but erect blackish pubescence; terga 3 and 4 with submedian fasciae that are nearly or quite entire, bordering the apical impressed area, that on 5 more subapical, discs with erect, more elongate, blackish pubescence; median length of pygidial plate slightly greater than basal width, margins carinate, slightly converging apically, with a rather abrupt but slight subapical constriction, the apex rather rounded or subtruncate; sterna 7 and 8 and genital armature much as in agilis (fig. 84).
DISTRIBUTION—Prince Edward Island west to Alberta in Canada, south to North Carolina and Illinois, July to September.
FLOWER RECORDS—LaBerge (1961) lists species of Aster, Cirsium, Chrysanthemum, Grindelia, Helianthus, Hieracium, Leontodon, Rudbeckia. Solidago, Sonchus and Tanacetum.
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