Insects at Gateway National Recreation Area

The genus Halictus is a large assemblage of bee species in the family Halictidae. The genus is divided into 15 subgenera, containing well over 300 species, primarily in the Northern Hemisphere (a few species occur in South America and Africa). Most species are black or dark brown, sometimes metallic greenish-tinted, with apical whitish abdominal bands (the related genus Lasioglossum, which is otherwise often similar in appearance, has the abdominal hair bands located basally, not apically). less ↑

Halictus ligatus is a species of sweat bee from the family Halictidae, characterized by those bees that mine or burrow into the ground to create their nests, which is one of the most common families of bees that live in temperate areas of the world. The term sweat bee is the common name used for Halictus ligatus because they are attracted to the salts of human perspiration. Most are small to medium in size, ranging from less ↑

The sweat bee genus Lasioglossum is the largest of all bee genera, containing over seventeen hundred species in numerous subgenera worldwide. They are highly variable in size, coloration, and sculpture; among the more unusual variants, some are cleptoparasites, some are nocturnal, and some are oligolectic. Most Lasioglossum nest in the ground, but some species nest in rotten logs. less ↑

Lasioglossum leucozonium (Schrank, 1781), also known as Lasioglossum similis, is a widespread solitary sweat bee found in North America, Europe, Asia, and parts of northern Africa. While now a common bee in North America, population genetic analysis has shown that it is actually an invasive species in this region. This population was most likely founded by a single female bee. less ↑