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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 14-15 mm.; dark blue; face considerably longer than distance between eyes above; eyes subparallel; lateral ocelli considerably nearer each other than to eyes, widely removed from margin of vertex; apical margin of clypeus slightly produced, with a median, elevated, blunt tubercle, depressed area on each side slightly emarginate (fig. 30); labrum with rather copious, black pubescence, its median length somewhat greater than basal width; mandibles rather short and blunt, upper part of base somewhat swollen and with a rounded, carina-like protuberance below, dentate margin with distinct, apical and subapical teeth, and an elongate, beveled area above (fig. 32); cheeks broader than eyes; wings deeply infuscated, 2nd recurrent vein reaching 2nd submarginal cell much nearer apex than 1st does to base; tarsal segments simple and unmodified; front spurs testaceoushyaline, mid and hind spurs piceous; pubescence of head and thorax largely whitish, rather short and dense, pale on the more basal segments of the legs, but becoming black on tarsal segments; scopa entirely black, the abdominal terga with extremely short, inconspicuous, discal pubescence which is barely evident, somewhat more elongate on basal tergum; punctures deep and distinct, quite close in general, rather coarse and distinctly separated on vertex, becoming somewhat closer on cheeks below, densely crowded on face, somewhat coarser and crowded or subreticulate on clypeus; punctures of scutum rather fine and crowded laterally, becoming somewhat coarser and more widely separated along midline, the scutellum with rather sparse and irregular punctures anteriorly, becoming close around posterior margin; pleura dull, with densely crowded punctures, those on lateral faces of propodeum very fine and densely crowded, becoming somewhat more distinctly separated on the tessellate, posterior face, dorsal area dull but smooth, its dorsal margin with short, fine striations; punctures of abdominal terga fine, distinctly but not widely separated medially, becoming almost crowded at extreme sides, those on tergum 5 somewhat coarser and uniformly close, 6 finely and densely punctate, apical margins of all somewhat depressed, well punctured to the rims.
MALE — Length 10-11 mm.; face somewhat longer than distance between eyes above; eyes subparallel; lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes and each other, somewhat more distant from margin of vertex; clypeus slightly convex, apical margin slightly produced and outcurved, median area rather narrowly truncate; median length of labrum about equal to basal width; mandibles bidentate; cheeks slightly broader than eyes; wings rather deeply infuscated, 2nd recurrent vein reaching 2nd submarginal cell somewhat nearer apex than 1st does to base; tarsal segments simple and unmodified, hind basitarsus with a sub- median tubercle on anterior margin; mid and hind spurs fuscous; pubescence of head and thorax entirely, and of legs in large part, whitish, rather short and dense on thorax, becoming somewhat blackish on hind tarsal segments; discal pubescence of basal abdominal tergum entirely whitish, rather elongate, especially laterally, very short and inconspicuous on the following terga, forming rather obscure and indefinite, apical fringes on 4 and 5, entirely pale on apical tergum and on the sterna; punctures quite deep and distinct, rather fine in general, slightly separated on vertex and cheeks, becoming densely crowded on face below ocelli and on clypeus, scutum with densely crowded punctures except along midline posteriorly, those on scutellum somewhat coarser and distinctly separated in center anteriorly, becoming crowded toward posterior and lateral margins; pleura dull, with densely crowded and indefinite punctures, lateral faces of propodeum somewhat shining, punctures very shallow and indistinct, posterior face rather dull, punctures shallow, irregular and rather obscure, dorsal area dark, densely tessellate, with a narrow, dorsal fringe of short striations; punctures of abdominal terga somewhat more distinct but fine, slightly separated medially on 1-3, becoming somewhat closer at extreme sides, uniformly close on 4-6, very fine on 6, apical margins rather narrowly depressed and finely punctate, the punctures becoming obsolescent toward the rims, these shining and impunctate on terga 4 and 5; apical margin of tergum 6 with a distinct, semicircular, median emargination, 7 narrowly produced, this area with a deep semicircular emargination; sternum 2 broadly produced apically, covering most of sternum 3 and basal half of 4, apical margin of 3 with a deep, triangular, median emargination, this area fringed with elongate setae which converge along midline, largely filling the emargination (fig. 33); sternum 4 considerably produced apically, margin slightly thickened and quite deeply grooved (fig. 34), 5-8 entirely retracted, slightly modified; genital armature as shown (fig. 35).
DISTRIBUTION — North Carolina to Florida and Texas, March to May. Sandhouse (1939) includes New York (Long Island) and New Jersey in the distribution.
FLOWER RECORDS — Ceanothus, Cirsium and Vaccinium.
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