Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1960 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141.
FEMALE�Length 7 mm.; black; face very slightly longer than distance between eyes; eyes sub-parallel; cheeks somewhat narrower than eyes; process of labrum considerably broader than long, apex truncate; facial foveae quite deep and distinct, narrow, terminating about at level of antennae; lateral ocelli somewhat nearer margin of vertex than to each other; median segments of flagellum slightly longer than broad; area between ocelli and antennae rather finely rugoso-punctate, punctures becoming coarser and much more sparse on shining surface below antennae, quite coarse on clypeus, fine and close on vertex laterally, becoming rather coarse and more widely separated on cheeks; pubescence of head and thorax quite dense and conspicuous but not hiding surface, that on dorsum of thorax yellowish, becoming whitish laterally and below; tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings lightly infuscated, veins and stigma brownish, 2nd recurrent vein entering 2nd submarginal cell much nearer apex than 1st does to base; legs entirely dark except for a small basal yellow spot on front and mid tibiae; spurs yellowish; scutum and scutellum very closely and rather coarsely punctate, scutum almost sub-rugose except in center posteriorly, punctures of pleura more shallow and obscure, surface posteriorly somewhat shining; apical margins of abdominal terga rather broadly and evenly depressed, these areas minutely and closely punctate or pebbled, the discs closely, finely and deeply punctate, punctures becoming somewhat more widely separated toward the depressed apical rims, discal pubescence very short, thin and sparse toward base, becoming longer and more conspicuous apical- ly, forming a rather dense, whitish, apical fimbria on tergum 5.
MALE�Length 6 mm.; black; face considerably longer than distance between eyes above, eyes slightly convergent below; lower portion of face, including clypeus, labrum, mandibles, most of supraclypeal area, and lateral portions of face yellow, upper margin of this area forming a nearly straight line just beneath antennae; process of labrum somewhat broader than long, apical margin truncate; facial foveae narrow, elongate, quite small but deep and distinct; lateral ocelli slightly nearer margin of vertex than to each other; median segments of flagellum much longer than broad; punctures of black areas of head close and rather fine, becoming somewhat coarser and more sparse on cheeks, those on maculated areas coarse, rather sparse and shallow; pubescence of head and thorax entirely pale, short but rather dense, not hiding surface; tubercles dark; tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings subhyaline, veins and stigma brownish to piceous, 2nd recurrent vein entering 2nd submarginal cell much closer to apex than 1st does to base; femora yellow apically, otherwise dark, tibiae yellow except for a median posterior dark spot, the tarsi and spurs entirely yellow; scutum rather finely rugoso-punctate, punctures of scutellum coarser deeper and more distinctly separated; pleura more shining, punctures coarse, deep, and well separated; apical margins of abdominal terga evenly and rather deeply depressed, these areas somewhat reddened, relatively smooth, discs very closely, deeply and finely punctate, becoming more rugose toward base, punctures distinct toward the depressed rims, discal pubescence very short and obscure, entirely pale; sternum 6 with a deep median emargination; wings of sternum 7 rather broad, elongate, triangular apically, with a very small apical tuft of setae; apical portion of sternum 8 narrow, with parallel sides, apex slightly expanded and thickened, depressed medially at tip; apical portion of gonostyli slender and elongate, slightly recurved, considerably exceeding tips of penis valves, tips abruptly flexed and with a conspicuous subapical fringe.
DISTRIBUTION � Maryland to Georgia, west to Indiana and Illinois; September and October.
FLOWER RECORDS � Aster. Robertson (1929) records this on 6 species of Aster and on Bidens aristosa, Boltonia asteroides, Polygonum scandens, Rudbeckia triloba, Solidago nemoralis and S. ulmfolia.
Bradley (1942) placed compositarum in synonymy with illinoiensis, but, in the opinion of the author, was in error. Sufficient material of both sexes of both species is at hand to indicate that they are distinct, and the types of both have been studied.
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