Lasioglossum pectinatum

(Robertson, 1890)

ground cherry sweat bee

Lasioglossum pectinatum is a of sweat in the , commonly known as the ground cherry sweat bee. It belongs to the largest of bees, Lasioglossum, which contains over 1,700 species. Like other halictids, it is a ground-nesting bee and is attracted to human perspiration for the salts and minerals it contains. The species is documented in North America, with records from Vermont.

L. pectinatum, F, Back 1, MD 2013-06-18-13.15.15 ZS PMax (9082053986) by Sam Droege from Beltsville, USA. Used under a Public domain license.

L. pectinatum, F, Face, MD 2013-06-18-12.15.47 ZS PMax (9082054626) by Sam Droege from Beltsville, USA. Used under a Public domain license.

L. pectinatum, F, Side 2, MD 2013-06-18-15.07.30 ZS PMax by Sam Droege. Used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Lasioglossum pectinatum: //ˌleɪsiˌoʊˈɡlɔsəm ˌpɛkˈtɪnætəm//

These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.

Images

Distribution

North America; specifically recorded from Vermont, United States.

Behavior

Has been observed approaching flowers of Prairie Clover (Dalea candida) alongside other Lasioglossum .

Human Relevance

Like other sweat , attracted to human perspiration for salts and minerals; generally harmless but females can if handled roughly.

Similar Taxa

Other Lasioglossum speciesMembers of this are notoriously difficult to identify to level; L. pectinatum requires specialized taxonomic expertise to distinguish from .
Halictus speciesAlso sweat in ; Halictus tend to be -sized with or blackish coloration and abdominal , whereas Lasioglossum vary more in size and coloration.

More Details

Taxonomic note

Lasioglossum is the largest of with over 1,700 , making species-level identification challenging without expert examination.

Research context

Lasioglossum are frequently captured in large numbers in bowl trap surveys, which has led to concerns about the representativeness of such sampling methods for diversity assessments.