![]() Male bi-colored Agapostemons may be tricky to differentiate from male Agapostemons of other species. Male bi-colored Agapostemons have abdomens striped with yellow bands, yellow legs with black markings, and partly yellow faces and mandibles. The female bees frequently carry large caches of yellow pollen on their hind legs, as shown in the photos at right. Female Agapostemons' abdomens are striped with bands of white hairs. Identifying Traits: Bi-colored Agapostemons can be identified by their shiny green heads and thoraxes. Throughout the summer, they are regular visitors to the sunflower plantings in Stone Barns' vegetable fields. ![]() In addition to being efficient pollinators of wildflowers, bi-colored Agapostemons are key pollinators of sunflowers and legumes. They are one of a few species of bees that feed on the nectar of native American white water lilies, which bloom in the park's Swan Lake during the summer. These bees appear in the park's gardens, meadows and woodland paths in mid-spring and remain through mid-October, foraging for nectar on such plants as coneflowers, coreopsis, mountain mint, Joy Pye weed, goldenrod and New England asters. Bi-colored Agapostemons pass more than one generation in a single summer, and thus, they are visible from the beginning to the end of the warm season in New York.īi-colored Agapostemons are polylectic - that is, they feed on a variety of plants rather than specializing on a single kind. According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders, bi-colored Agapostemons work cooperatively bees entering the nest carrying pollen are given right-of-way over those trying to leave, and multiple bees in the nest work to restore entrance holes as they crumble. This provides the bees' eggs and offspring with better protection against cuckoo bees and other predators than nests maintained by solitary bees. The nests are usually protected by a guard bee that blocks the entrance with its head. The bees keep their nests well-hidden under leaves and grass, but occasionally you may observe one of these bees suddenly disappear into a hole in the ground.Īlso known as virescent green metallic bees, bi-colored Agapostemons are considered "gregarious" - that is, they band together in communal nests, with each female provisioning her own burrow. They build nests consisting of deep vertical burrows in sloping soil and banks. Part 1 of this guide's sweat bee section focuses on green metallic sweat bees.īi-colored Agapostemons are jewel-like bees with metallic green heads and thoraxes and striped abdomens. (The single sweat bee genus, Lasioglossum, for example, is represented by 160 different species in New York.) Sweat bees shown in this guide represent six distinct sweat bee genera that can be grouped roughly by their salient characteristics: (1) iridescent green bees (Agapostemon, Augochlora, Augochloropsis and Augochlorella) and (2) bees that are dark in color, usually with striped abdomens (Halictus and Lasioglossum). Sweat bees come in a multitude of varieties and colors, and span 14 genera (genuses) within the United States and a seemingly endless plenitude of species. Sweat bees are also essential pollinators of native flora, appearing in all seasons in New York on an extensive array of flowering plants found in woodlands and fields. These bees are a highly important group of wild pollinators, responsible for the pollination of an impressive range of commercial crops - among them squash, legumes, sunflowers, watermelons, apples, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes and peppers, to name but a few. ![]() Halictidae, tiny nonaggressive "sweat bees," comprise one of the seven bee families in the order Hymenoptera.
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