The nests need all this protection because there are marauding ants and many other little predators that would promptly devour her babies bee larvae make delicious meals for hungry predators. Her nests are lined with an impermeable thin membrane that she produces from glands on her body. Salt in sweat attracts these bees, like all other sweat bees. It lives in many Eastern states where males and females can lick human sweat. Sweat bees are in the halictid family of bees, and there are over 500 different. The Pure Green-Sweat Bee (Augochlora pura) is one of the most common species of green bees in the US. Once she has gathered enough food for one larva she lays an egg inside the cell and seals it. What are sweat bees, exactly There are actually a lot of different types of sweat bees out there. Scientists think that her saliva has antiseptic qualities that help keep this food fresh and add extra protection to the eggs. In her nest, she mixes the pollen with some nectar and her own saliva. She works throughout the days gathering pollen from her favorite flowers, carrying it back to her log home on her hind legs. She builds cells made of mud and debris found under the bark that she glues together. Where you see a fallen log on the forest floor female Augochlora see valuable real estate. Most nest in holes in the ground and a few others use hollow twigs, but Augochlora makes her nests under the loose bark of old trees. This wonderful little green bee has a lifestyle that distinguishes it from other halictid bees. There are many kinds of sweat bees, with a range throughout the Western Hemisphere. Later on, it visits milkweeds, hydrangeas, spiderwort, verbena and others. Bees prize this nectar at a time when there are not many other good blooms and floral resources are scarce. Habits: Called sweat bees because they are drawn to human sweat. Legs: 6 Antennae: Yes Habitat: Live underground or in rotting wood. Although most maples are wind-pollinated, others carry a drop of glistening nectar very exposed on the center of their tiny flowers. Sweat Bee Actual Size: 0.4-1.1 cm Characteristics: Metallic black, green, blue, or purple. Early in the season, it visits maple flowers. Augocholra pura also visits members of the rose family (Rosaceae). Not a very choosy bee, it visits a wide range of flowers many of them are members of the daisy family, Asteraceae, such as asters, goldenrods and coreopsis. During warmer years, it can be seen as soon as February and as late as November in the northern and southern ends of its range. Another unique species is the honey-tailed striped sweat bee, Agapostemon melliventris that lives in the southwestern US. Not a very choosy bee, Augochlora pura visits a wide range of flowers.įrom the Canadian Rockies all the way though to Florida, this pure golden green bee can be busily visiting flowers from April to October. These bees, spread over most of North America, are called bi-colored striped sweat bees because the male has a black-and-white striped abdomen, while the female abdomen is plain green.
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