Pure Green Sweat Bee (Augochlora pura) lives in open fields across Eastern North America. It feeds on nectar and pollen.
Fascinating facts about the Pure Green Sweat Bee
- Augochlora pura dominates bee communities in southeastern bottomland hardwood forests, where it comprised about 91% of the individuals collected. The species inhabits the eastern United States, extending from Maine across to Minnesota and southward through Texas to Florida, and has even been recorded as far north as Quebec. Its activity spans from February to November, with longer seasons in the southern part of its range.
- Across most of its range the pure-green sweat bee displays a strikingly shiny, bright green body that clearly distinguishes it from many Lasioglossum species, which are only dullly metallic green. In Florida, however, both males and females exhibit a deep blue metallic colour, a regional colour form once treated as a separate taxon. The bee measures about 8 mm in length, and males may show slightly darker mandibles and a faint bluish tint compared with females.
- In natural conditions Augochlora pura produces two to three generations each year, a limit imposed by the seasonal climate. Laboratory colonies, freed from those constraints, have been coaxed into at least six generations annually, showing the species' capacity for rapid turnover when resources allow.
- Male pure-green sweat bees live barely two weeks; lab records give an average lifespan of 14.88 days. All males die in the fall, whereas females overwinter.
- When a male is copulating, rivals will climb atop him, trying to inseminate the same female. Instead of pursuing females in the air, males wait for them to land on flowers.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeEastern North America
HabitatOpen fields
DietNectar and pollen
About the Pure Green Sweat Bee
In the warm, golden light of a summer's day, the Pure Green Sweat Bee dances through the air, its iridescent green body glimmering like a tiny jewel as it flits from flower to flower. With a frenetic energy, it darts and weaves, its delicate wings beating at a hypnotic pace as it collects nectar and pollen with precision and purpose. As it moves through the world, this tiny, unassuming creature is a whirlwind of activity, its very existence a testament to the beauty and wonder of the natural world.
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