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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees » Sweat, Furrow, Nomiine, and Short-faced Bees (Halictidae) » Sweat and Furrow Bees (Halictinae) » Halictini » Furrow Bees (Halictus)

Genus Halictus - Furrow Bees

Classification · Pronunciation · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Small Bee #3 - Halictus tripartitus - female Halictid? - Halictus rubicundus Halictus Sweat Bee - Halictus ligatus - male Bee or Wasp - orange wings, yellow legs - Halictus farinosus Tucson bee - Halictus ligatus Megachilidae? - Halictus - female Bee 6-8mm - Halictus - female Onion Valley-J.2024.J.06 - Halictus - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Halictidae (Sweat, Furrow, Nomiine, and Short-faced Bees)
Subfamily Halictinae (Sweat and Furrow Bees)
Tribe Halictini
Genus Halictus (Furrow Bees)
Pronunciation
ha-LICK-tuss
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Most previous classifications recognize three subgenera: Halictus, Seladonia, and Vestitohalictus.

Pesenko (1984) recognized the three subgenera above as genera with several subgenera.
Numbers
Subgenera in our area as listed in the guide:
12 spp. in 3 subgenera in our area, ~200 spp. worldwide(1)
Seladonia: 4 species in our area.(1)
Halictus: 7 species in our area.(1)
Vestitohalictus: a single species in our area.(1)

Subgenera in our area following Michener's (2007)(2) subgenera:
12 spp. in 7 subgenera in our area, ~200 spp. in 18 subgenera worldwide(1).
Halictus: a single species in our area(1)
Hexataenites: a single species in our area(1)
Nealictus: 2 spp., both in our area(1)
Odontalictus: 2 spp., both in our area(1)
Pachyceble: 4 spp. in our area, 22 spp. worldwide/total(1)
Protohalictus: a single species in our area, 14 spp. worldwide/total(1)
Vestitohalictus: a single species in our area, 15 spp. worldwide/total(1)
Identification
The hair bands are apical, not basal (like many Andrena, but unlike most Lasioglossum). Wing veins all strong (versus one or more apical crossveins conspicuously weak in Lasioglossum females).
Key to northwestern spp. in(3)

OVERVIEW OF SPECIES

Subgenus Halictus

H. farinosus
♀      ♂

H. ligatus
♀      ♂

H. parallelus
♀      ♂

H. poeyi
♀      ♂

H. rubicundus
♀      ♂

Subgenus Seladonia

H. confusus
♀      ♂

H. tripartitus
♀      ♂

H. vigatellus
♂

Subgenus Vestitohalictus

H. tectus
♀      ♂
Range
much of the world but absent is Australasia (1 introduced sp.) and poorly represented in SE. Asia and S. America (map); in our area, all 12 spp. occur in the US, 7 in Canada(1)
Habitat
general; particularly numerous in sandy areas
Season
Early spring-late fall; all year in Florida and south Texas
Remarks
Most Lasioglossum species were described in Halictus when this was defined much more broadly to include most non-parasitic Halictini.
Many species are eusocial with groups ranging from 2-4 to >200 females.
Print References
Pesenko, Y.A. 1984. A subgeneric classification of bees of the genus Halictus Latreille sensu stricto. Entomological Review 63(3):1-20. (Partial Text)
Internet References
Discover Life
iNaturalist
Great Sunflower Project
Wikipedia
ITIS
Works Cited
1.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
2.The Bees of the World, 2nd edition
Charles D. Michener. 2007. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
3.Bees of northwestern America: Halictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)
R.B. Roberts. 1973. Oregon State U. Agric. Experiment Station, Technical bulletin 126: 1-23.
Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 8 March, 2005 - 2:18pm
Additional contributions by Lynette Elliott, anitagould, John S. Ascher, v belov, Arturo Santos, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 10 January, 2025 - 4:10pm

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