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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) » Subgenus Seladonia (Halictus Subgenus Seladonia) » Halictus tripartitus
Photo#840466
Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - female
Copyright © 2013 Emile

Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - Female
Palos Verdes Peninsula, Los Angeles County, California, USA
September 7, 2013
Size: ~ 6 mm
This small busy bee kept moving from one Helminthotheca echioides (Bristly Ox-tongue) flower to the next.
Does it belong in (sub)genus Halictus s. str. ?
And, if so, is it a female Halictus farinosus ?

Images of this individual: tag all
Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - female Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - female Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - female Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - female Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - female Small iridescent blackish Busy Bee with beige-white (abdominal) hair-bands, carying loys of Bristly Ox-tongue pollen - Halictus tripartitus - female
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Contributed by Emile on 11 September, 2013 - 11:23pm
Last updated 13 September, 2013 - 11:31am

Moved
Moved from Subgenus Seladonia.
… Keng-Lou James Hung, 13 September, 2013 - 11:31am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Keng-Lou James Hung, 12 September, 2013 - 9:16pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks for the upward mobility, James !
Very much appreciated !

Do you know what features distinguish sub-genus Seladonia from the other sub-genera ?

H. (Seladonia) tripartitus is the only species in sub-genus Seladonia with records from Los Angeles County.
It is supposed to have a greenish sheen, which I could not detect much of, if any; hence my inclination to Halictus s.s.
… Emile, 13 September, 2013 - 10:47am login or register to post comments

 
I think it should be H. tripartitus!
I actually had not realized that I moved it to the subgenus but not to species! Judging from the size it's too small to be H. farinosus which tend to be 8mm or more. It also lacks the broad head and genal spine of the other common species, H. ligatus. Halictus tripartitus is the most common of the genus in southern California (indeed, perhaps the entire southwest) and the one that most fits the size and general shape of your pictures :)
… Keng-Lou James Hung, 13 September, 2013 - 11:34am login or register to post comments

 
Fantastic, James !
Thanks a lot for your explanation.
… Emile, 13 September, 2013 - 12:41pm login or register to post comments

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