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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 » Striped Sweat Bees (Agapostemon) » Subgenus Agapostemon (Agapostemon Subgenus Agapostemon) » Silky Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon sericeus)

Species Agapostemon sericeus - Silky Striped Sweat Bee

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
SweetBee062 - Agapostemon sericeus - female Bee - Agapostemon sericeus - female Bee A - unident - Agapostemon sericeus - female Agapostemon sericeus Augochloropsis? - Agapostemon sericeus - female Green sweat bee on garlic chives - Agapostemon sericeus Bee - Agapostemon sericeus Bee - Agapostemon sericeus - female
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 Agapostemon (Striped Sweat Bees)
No Taxon (Subgenus Agapostemon)
Species sericeus (Silky Striped Sweat Bee)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Apis sericea; Halictus radiatus; Agapostemon pulchra; Agapostemon sulcatulus; Apis sericeus
Explanation of Names
Agapostemon (Agapostemon) sericeus (Forster, 1771)
Size
Female: Length 10mm(1)
Male: Length 10mm(1)
Identification
Rugose scutum
See remarks.
Range
Manitoba south to central Florida; Massachusetts west to Nebraska.
Discover Life Map
Season
April to October
Food
Visits flowers from several families. The Hosts section on its Discover Life species page lists known floral associations based on specimen records and images.
Remarks
"Only 4 Agapostemon species in Ontario.
A. sericeus has the roughest thorax and three white hair bands on abdomen, the second hair band is usually wider. Dark legs with the longest golden hair.
A. splendens has dark wings, dark legs, except the foreleg which is reddish-yellow. Reddish on the mouth parts. Hair on hind legs is deep golden and not too long, but quite thick. Watch out for the abdomen, it can sometimes look like sericeus, but the bands in between the segments are dark, in sericeus they are white.
A. texanus is the hairiest of them all, unmistakeable, especially on thorax sides, the hair is yellowish-white. Top of thorax is quite shiny. Legs hairs are a little darker, but quite short.
A. virescens female is unmistakeable as it is striped like the male."
Print References
Mitchell, T.B. (1960) Bees of the eastern United States. I. Technical bulletin (North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station), 141, 1-538. (Full Text) Listed as A. radiatus

Roberts, R.B. (1972). Revision of the bee genus Agapostemon (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 49(9):437-590. (Full Text) Listed as A. radiatus

Eickwort, G. C. (1981). Aspects of the nesting biology of five Nearctic species of Agapostemon (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 337-351. (Full Text)
Internet References
Discover life
iNaturalist
ITIS
Works Cited
1.Bees of the eastern United States
Mitchell T.B. 1962. Tech. Bull. (NC Agric. Exp. Sta.): No. 141 (538 pp.), 1960; and No. 152 (557 pp.).
Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 13 October, 2006 - 7:21pm
Additional contributions by John S. Ascher, JohnMaxwell22, hg, PaleoJon, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 25 December, 2023 - 6:58am

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