''Lasioglossum vierecki'', also known as ''Dialictus vierecki'' and ''Halictus vierecki'',various contributors. 2015. Hymenoptera Online (HOL). nlineAvailable fro

ccessed 22 September 2015/ref> is a sand sweat bee and is part of the family

Halictidae Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. Halictid species are an extremely diverse group that can vary greatly in appearance. These bees occur all over the world and are found on every continen ...

of the order

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typic ...

.Danforth B. N., Conway L., Ji S., (2003)
"Phylogeny of Eusocial Lasioglossum Reveals Multiple Losses of Eusociality within a Primitively Eusocial Clade of Bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)"
Syst. Biol., 52(1), 23–36. It is found in the eastern half of North America from Minnesota to the New England States down to Georgia and LouisianaMitchell, T.B. 1960 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141. cited in Eaton, E., (2008
"Species Lasioglossum vierecki - Viereck's Dialictus"
(Accessed: September 20, 2015). and up in Manitoba and Ontario.Lasioglossum Vierecki. (2015). In Discover Life. Retrieved fro

(Accessed: September 20, 2015). Commonly found in sandy areas, it pollinates various flowers such as grass-leaved goldenrod (''

Euthamia graminifolia ''Euthamia graminifolia'', the grass-leaved goldenrod or flat-top goldentop, is a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to much of Canada (from Newfoundland to British Columbia), and the northern and eastern Uni ...

'') and rattlesnake master ('' Eryngium yuccifolium'').Hilty, J. Editor. (2015). Insect Visitors of Illinois Wildflowers. World Wide Web electronic publication. , version (09/2015). (Accessed: September 20, 2015).

Taxonomy and phylogeny

''Lasioglossum vierecki'' is part of the subfamily Halictinae within the hymenopteran family

.Gibbs, J. (2010). Revision of the metallic species of Lasioglossum (Dialictus)in Canada (Hymenoptera, Halictidae, Halictini). Zootaxa; 2591, 346-351. cited in Eaton, E., (2008
"Species Lasioglossum vierecki - Viereck's Dialictus"
(Accessed: September 20, 2015). ''L. vierecki'' is the largest species within the halictid subfamily and is composed of five tribes.Schwarz, M. P. et al. (2007). "Changing Paradigms in Insect Social Evolution: Insights from Halictine and Allodapine Bees". Annual Review of Entomology 52: 127–150. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.51.110104.15095. ''L. vierecki'' is part of tribe

Halictini Halictini is a tribe of sweat bees in the sub-family Halictinae. Genera The following are included by ''BioLib.cz'': # '' Agapostemon'' Guérin-Ménéville, 1844 # '' Agapostemonoides'' Roberts & Brooks, 1987 # '' Caenohalictus'' Cameron, 1903 ...

, which is made up of over 2000 species.Danforth, B. N. et al. (2008). "Phylogeny of Halictidae with emphasis on endemic African Halictinae" (PDF). Apidologie 39: 86–101. doi:10.1051/apido:2008002. Genus ''Lasioglossum'' is informally divided into two series: the ''Lasioglossum'' series and the ''Hemihalictus'', of which ''L. vierecki'' is part of the former.Michener, C.D. (2000). The Bees of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. 913. It is part of the subgenus ''Dialictus,'' which is mostly composed of New World species,Wcislo, W. T. (1997). Social interactions and behavioral context in a largely solitary bee, Lasioglossum (Dialictus) figueresi (Hymenoptera, Halictidae), 44, 199-208. Retrieved fro

/ref> and is most closely related to '' Lasioglossum gundlachii, L. gundlachii'', '' L. umbripenne'', '' L. parvum'', and '' L. tegulare''.

Description and identification

''L. vierecki'' can be distinguished by its extremely hairy, orange-yellow abdomen with clear golden yellow hair on its scutellum, and pits touching the scutellum. There are several other differences from bees that have similar colored abdomen. Its antennae is darker on the bottom half, and the

rugae In anatomy, rugae are a series of ridges produced by folding of the wall of an organ. Most commonly rugae refers to the gastric rugae of the internal surface of the stomach. Function A purpose of the gastric rugae is to allow for expansion o ...

reaches the top of the metathorax, which has narrowly-spaced punctures. Though the abdomen has punctures as well, it does not have a bronze-colored reflection and is not smooth and shiny. The mesonotum, which is the same color as the abdomen, is not smooth and polished in the middle and has small punctures. The first abdominal segment differs from other segments due to its bluer color and punctures. The legs are lighter but not polished.Crawford, J. (1904). Entomological News oogle Books version Retrieved fro

/ref>

Females

Female ''L. vierecki'' are distinguished by extensively yellow legs with a brown tint on the top half of the Clypeus (arthropod anatomy), clypeus, a pale yellow-brown

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory system, and cir ...

, and a very dense, slightly yellow tomentum on the

mesosoma The mesosoma is the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings. In hymenopterans of t ...

, metasomal terga, and head.Gibbs, J. (2011). Revision of the metallic Lasioglossum (Dialictus) of eastern North America (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Halictini.) Zootaxa. 3073: 207. Retrieved fro

/ref>

Males

Male ''L. vierecki'' are recognized by their smaller size and many punctures on the Scute, scutum of their middle thoracic segment.

Distribution and habitat

''L. vierecki'' is found in eastern North America from Minnesota to the New England states and south to Louisiana and GeorgiaGibbs, J. (2011). Revision of the metallic Lasioglossum (Dialictus) of eastern North America (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Halictini.) Zootaxa. cited in Eaton, E., (2008
"Species Lasioglossum vierecki - Viereck's Dialictus"
(Accessed: September 20, 2015). as well as in Canada in Manitoba and Ontario. They are known as sand specialist bees, which means that they only nest in sand or only visit plants restricted to sand.THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. (2008). THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST. THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY; 41, 15

(Accessed: September 22, 2015).

Flowers visited

''L. vierecki'' pollinates several flowers throughout the eastern part of North America. In New Jersey they have been found on ''

Ceanothus ''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family ( Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. ''"Ceanothu ...

'', ''

Hydrangea ''Hydrangea'', () commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of over 75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs tall, ...

'', ''

Rubus ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of the ...

'', ''

Specularia ''Legousia'' (Venus' looking-glass) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae, native to Europe. Species in the genus used to be placed under genus ''Specularia'' along with plants in genera ''Triodanis'' and ''Heterocodon'' a ...

'', ''

Helianthus ''Helianthus'' () is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers. Except for three South American species, the species of ''Helianthus'' are native t ...

'', ''

Monarda ''Monarda'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae.Harley, R. M., et al. 2004. "Labiatae". pp 167-275 In: Kubitzki, K. (editor) and J. W. Kadereit (volume editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VII. ...

'', and '' Solidago''. In Illinois, they have been found on:

Behavior and ecology

''L. vierecki'' is considered a solitary bee. These types of bees exhibit solitary behavior, where a female raises the entire brood by herself and lives alone in her own nest. This behavior could have evolved from

eusociality Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generat ...

. ''L. vierecki'' is active between April and September.

Human importance

Since ''L. vierecki'' and other native bees have become more important for agriculture due to the decline in population of

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

s, there are new efforts to sustain and promote these species. Some farmers are now raising native plants that these bees feed from in order to ensure that their farming practices do not negatively affect the native bee population.Kuehn, F. Coordinator. (2015). Farming for native bees. World Wide Web electronic publication. Retrieved fro

(Accessed: September 22, 2015).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2295583 Lasioglossum, vierecki Hymenoptera of North America Insects described in 1904