Green Bee or Wasp
Location: Northeast Florida
September 11, 2011 11:42 am
I saw this bee (or wasp) on our Mexican Petunias today in northeast FL. It has a bright green head and thorax, and a black and yellow striped abdomen. I looked for information here and on BugGuide and found the Metallic Green Bee (Agapostemon splendens) which looks like my bee. However the size is listed as approximately 10-11mm. The Mexican Petunia flower is 2” wide, about 50mm, and this bee looks larger than 10-11 mm on the flower, doesn’t it? Can you help?
Signature: Karen
Metallic Sweat Bee
Dear Karen,
We agree that this appears to be a Metallic Sweat Bee in the genus Agapostemon, but we cannot identify the species for certain. BugGuide does not list a size range on the genus page. Your individual looks very much like this photo from BugGuide and it is listed as being between 1 and 2 centimeters.
Thank you for your help! The photo you referred me to does look like the bee I saw, and the size range of up to 2 cm seems more in line with the actual size of my bee. I enjoy your website very much–I’ve learned a lot since I found it, and I appreciate all you do. I’m a special education teacher and I’m hoping to use What’s That Bug with my students later on this school year–I think they’ll be fascinated.
Karen
1
¶ Posted 11 September 2011 § ‡ ° Half wasp, half bee
Location: Phoenix, AZ
August 27, 2011 10:04 am
So I look up, and there are 20 of these in my kitchen. I’m in Phoenix, AZ, its August, they can fit on my pinky nail, very small, iridescent green thorax and head, abdomen is striped black and yellow like a bee. Its hard to tell if its a wasp or a bee, but the morphology tells me bee. Any info would be appreciated, Thanks!
Signature: Colin
Metallic Sweat Bee
Hi Colin,
The insect in your photo is a Metallic Sweat Bee in the tribe Halictini, based on information posted to BugGuide.
1
¶ Posted 27 August 2011 § ‡ ° Green bee
Location: Southwest Los Angeles, CA
August 15, 2011 1:06 am
Saw two of these iridescent green bees yesterday. They burrowed in the soil below our fig tree and did lots of hovering in the vicinity. They were no more than 1/2” in length. One had pollen, the other didn’t. I’m guessing halictidae agapostemon texanus… but would love for the experts to weigh in. Thank you!
Signature: Tracy
Metallic Sweat Bee
Hi Tracy,
We agree that you have photographed Metallic Sweat Bees in the family Halictidae, but we are very reluctant to agree to a species or even a genus identification of this confusing family. We are especially thrilled with your photo that shows a Metallic Sweat Bee digging. According to BugGuide, the are: “Typically ground-nesters, with nests formed in clay soil, sandy banks of streams, etc. Most species are polylectic (collecting pollen from a variety of unrelated plants)”
Metallic Sweat Bee
Your photos are an excellent addition to our website.
Metallic Sweat Bee
¶ Posted 15 August 2011 § ‡ ° Halictide in Mostly Blue?
Location: Paulding County Georgia
November 18, 2010 2:56 pm
This is a most enchantingly beautiful insect, I noticed you only have photos of green sweat bees, thought you would like one in blue. Took this photo yesterday. Found it on some pepper plants that I brought into the house a few weeks ago.
Signature: Tweakie Molinari
Sweat Bee
Hi Tweakie,
Thanks so much for your wonderful image of a Sweat Bee.
Dear Mr. Marlos:
You are most welcome! It had a little stinger which is not visible on the photo. Love your website thank you so much for all your work.
Tweakie
¶ Posted 19 November 2010 § ‡ ° Metallic Green Insect
May 24, 2010
Curious to know what this handsome bug is–his most outstanding feature is his vivid green color.
Evelyn Wolfer
Joshua, Texas (South Fort Worth)
Sweat Bee
Dear Evelyn,
There are several genera of Sweat Bees in the family Halictidae that have green metallic coloration, and we really haven’t the necessary skills to differentiate the genera much less the species. BugGuide breaks down the categories quite nicely should you choose to pursue additional research.
¶ Posted 24 May 2010 § ‡ ° Orchid Bee in North Carolina?
April 21, 2010
Hi WTB!
I love your site! I can finally ask someone about the critters I’ve been photographing in my yard. This little green bee was crawling on a lighter on my table one day. It was beautiful and I just had to find out what kind it was. At first I thought it was a Green Metallic Bee, but it didn’t look exactly like one. Then I thought maybe it was an Orchid Bee, but I didn’t think they came as far north as Charlotte, NC. Could you please tell me what kind of bee this is? I’d love to see more of them in my garden. Maybe if I plant their favorite flowers they’ll stick around!
Thanks so much. This site is in my top 10 favorite sites ever!
Rebecca White
Charlotte, NC
Metallic Sweat Bee
Dear Rebecca,
This is a Metallic Sweat Bee, probably in the genus Augochlorini, though the family Halictidae is quite confusing for us. We matched your bee to a photo on BugGuide. BugGuide also indicates that it is difficult to differentiate between the three genera Ausochlora, Augochlorella and Augochloropsis.Thank you so much for your passionate and complimentary letter. BugGuide indicates that “Adults found on flowers” and they eat “Pollen and nectar and aphid’s honeydew.“ Alas BugGuide does not indicate which flowers will attract the Metallic Sweat Bees. Here in Los Angeles, we see them on cardoon or wild artichoke, Cynara cardunculus. These large thistles have a reputation as invasive exotic plants that compromise our native habitat, but like so many problematic species, they have some endearing qualities, including that they are edible. Here is an excerpt of a piece we wrote on the cardoon in the Mount Washington Homeowners Alliance newsletter in January 2010: “Perhaps a better and tastier way to control the population of the Cardoon is to eat it. The buds are much smaller than traditional artichokes, though they can be prepared in a similar manner before they open. The more feasible part of the plant to eat though is the midrib of the leaf that tastes much like the traditional artichoke. The website www.gardening-guy.com has several recipes for the preparation of Cardoon, including a dish called bagna cauda that translates loosely to “hot bath” and involves spearing and cooking cubes of beef and other vegetables in hot oil in a manner similar to fondue. I plan to pick some of the leaves growing on “dirt” Burnell this spring and steaming them to eat with aioli, that is unless one of you readers beats me to the harvest.“ Other plants that will attract Metallic Sweat Bees include Echinacea and any of the composite flowers like Rudbeckia, cosmos, sunflowers and daisies.
Metallic Sweat Bee
Hi Dan
Thank you so much for clearing that up for me and for the awesome information on the types of plants that would attract the Metallic Sweat Bee. I’m delighted that the Echinacea, Sunflowers, Daisies and Cosmos I planted in my garden this year will bring more of them around! I haven’t seen any wild artichoke anywhere but as it is an invasive species, that is probably a good thing. I’ve been careful to only plant natives in my garden, so hopefully the Echinacea and others will be enough to keep the little guys busy.
Thank you again for responding – and so promptly too! You guys are the BEST!
Rebecca
¶ Posted 21 April 2010 § ‡ ° A couple for you . .
Dear Bugman,
I love your nickname. I know (by Internet) a retired priest who’s nickname is the same because he does bugs for fun too! We live in western South Dakota just east of Rapid City, NOT in the Black Hills. I have two for you, one I think I have identified from your web site as metallic green bees, pollinating our sunflowers. They were everywhere when our sunflowers were in full spate! The other is a mystery – the closest I have gotten is that by “insect definitions” (which I know very little about) is that this is some kind of fly because it only has one pair of wings. There are actually two pictures taken on different days. Both were sucking on early sunflowers along with some (YOW!) yellowjacket wasps which I manged to avoid, phew! The closest on your site was a Bee Fly, and these were definitely not eating bees! These pretty much ignored me as when I took these macros, they did not move! One appears to onlt have on set of legs, but the second picture reveals three pairs. Bless you for a fantasic site, and not just for kids!!!
Diane in South Dakota
Hi Diane,
You sent us three copies of the Metallic Sweat Bees in the genus Agapostemon. The photo is wonderful.
¶ Posted 14 September 2005 § ‡ ° 
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