ligated furrow bee

(Halictus ligatus)

Conservation Status
ligated furrow bee
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Ligated furrow bee is a very common, medium-sized, ground-nesting, eusocial bee. It occurs in the United States, Mexico, Central America, northern South America, and southern Canada. In the United States it occurs in each of the lower 48 states. It is common in the southern half of Minnesota, uncommon to absent in the north. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, especially in sandy areas. Adults are generalist feeders and can be found on a very wide variety of flowers.

The female is 516 to (8 to 10 mm) in length. The head and body are entirely black with pale hairs and without a greenish cast. The head is much wider than long and appears thick. The compound eyes are parallel. On the face there is just a single line-like groove extending downward from the base of each antenna (subantennal suture). The cheeks are much wider than the eyes and are strongly hooked with a prominent knob-like projection at the base. The tongue is short.

The small plates (tegulae) covering the wing bases are coppery.

Each abdominal segment (tergum) has a band of whitish hairs at the bottom (apically). This feature distinguishes the genus Halictus from the closely related genus Lasioglossum, which has bands at the top (basally). The bands on the first two terga are narrow and inconspicuous, the remaining bands are distinct.

The wings are mostly translucent with yellowish veins and a yellowish cell (stigma) on the leading edge (costal margin) just before the marginal cell. The marginal cell is pointed but not sharply pointed. There are three submarginal cells. The first cell is longer than the third. The veins dividing the submarginal cells are dark and prominent. The basal vein is strongly arced at the base, like the letter J.

The male is smaller, ¼ to (7 to 9 mm) in length. The head is as wide as long. The compound eyes converge slightly at the bottom. The cheeks are not as wide as the eyes. The legs are black at the base. The fourth leg segment (tibia) is brownish-gray on the underside, yellowish on the upper side.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Female: 516 to (8 to 10 mm)

Male: ¼ to (7 to 9 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

 

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

Several overlapping generations per year: early spring to autumn

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

Sometimes large numbers build their nests close together.

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

A young, hibernating, reproductive female (gyne) emerges in the spring. She builds a nest in the ground consisting of an 8 to 3 deep vertical tunnel with many short side tunnels. She lays a single egg in each side tunnel, provisions it with pollen, then seals the tunnel. The nest has a mound of dirt surrounding the entrance and looks like an ant hill.

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

Flower pollen

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

Flower nectar and pollen

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82.

 
  7/14/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Very common, locally abundant

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)  
 

Suborder

Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)  
 

Infraorder

Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps)  
 

Superfamily

Apoidea (bees and apoid wasps)  
  Epifamily Anthophila (bees)  
 

Family

Halictidae (sweat bees)  
 

Subfamily

Halictinae (sweat and furrow bees)  
 

Tribe

Halictini  
 

Genus

Halictus (furrow bees)  
  Subgenus Odontalictus  
       
 

Halictus ligatus is a species complex that will probably be split into multiple species in the future.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

ligated furrow bee

ligated gregarious sweat bee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Costal margin

The leading edge of the forewing of insects.

 

Stigma

In plants, the portion of the female part of the flower that is receptive to pollen. In Lepidoptera, an area of specialized scent scales on the forewing of some skippers, hairstreaks, and moths. In other insects, a thickened, dark, or opaque cell on the leading edge of the wing.

 

Tegula

A small, hardened, plate, scale, or flap-like structure that overlaps the base of the forewing of insects in the orders Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Homoptera. Plural: tegulae.

 

Tergum

The upper (dorsal) surface of a body segment of an arthropod. Plural: terga.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.

 

Tubercle

On plants and animals: a small, rounded, raised projection on the surface. On insects and spiders: a low, small, usually rounded, knob-like projection. On slugs: raised areas of skin between grooves covering the body.

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
    ligated furrow bee   ligated furrow bee  
           
    ligated furrow bee      
 

Mike Poeppe

 
    ligated furrow bee      
           
 
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Other Videos
 
  Halictus ligatus on Helianthus
Zach
 
   
 
About

May 30, 2017

PIRU, Logan, UT
11 Aug 2016, 9:07AM
00838

 
  LIGATED FURROW BEE, Halictus ligatus foraging
Rob Curtis
 
   
 
About

Jan 13, 2020

LIGATED FURROW BEE, Halictus ligatus foraging. Horner Park, Chicago 8/27/2019

 

 

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  Mike Poeppe
6/10/2022

Location: Just west of Houston, MN

ligated furrow bee  
  Alfredo Colon
8/10/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

ligated furrow bee  
  Alfredo Colon
8/8/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

ligated furrow bee  
  Alfredo Colon
8/6/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

ligated furrow bee  
           
 
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Created: 7/14/2022

Last Updated:

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