Australian Native Bee Library
Lasioglossum species
Pronunciation: lass-ee-oh-gloss-um
There are more than 300 species of Lasioglossum bees, spread across Australia. Most belong to the subgenera Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) (130 spp.), Lasioglossum (Parasphecodes) (20 spp.) and Lasioglossum (Homalictus) (45 spp.).
The common name is furrow bee, which describes the T5 furrow at the end of the abdomen of all species in this genus. Bees range from 3 to 12mm in length and vary in colour from dull grey to deep red or soft stripes.
Taxonomy
Lasioglossum species
Family
Halictidae
Genus
Lasioglossum
Nesting
Lasioglossum nest in sandy–loam soil, but at a maximum length of 12mm, they are more likely to nest in soil with a light layer of gravel on top, than one with a thick layer of mulch.
Most ground nesting bees use sonication, where they vibrate their body, to help shift excavated dirt from their burrows. This sonication is also used to buzz pollinate some of Australia’s native flowers.
Males
Males usually patrol flowers looking for mates, making them hard to identify and photograph, as they flit around on their mission. Many species will also congregate together at night.
Foraging behaviour
Most Lasioglossum are generalist foragers, happy to collect pollen and nectar from both native and exotic plants. They can be found on open, shallow flowers, like those in the Myrtaceae family – gums, tea tree, bottle brush or small complex flowers like those in the Lamiaceae family – Salvia, Westringia, thyme. They have also been reported to visit an array of crop flowers such as Brassica, apple, pear and cherry.
Given their capacity to carry large amounts of dry pollen in their plumose scopal hairs, and their indiscriminate food choices, Lasioglossum species could be encouraged to nest and rest within cultivated pollinator-friendly habitat. By providing this refugia, these hardy and diverse pollinators could be available for their pollination services in sustainable cropping systems.
Fun Facts
According to Charles Michener, a world-renowned bee taxonomist, Lasioglossum are ‘morphologically monotonously similar bees’, making them very difficult to identify to species level.
At least 30 species of Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) males are known for their big-headedness. Within the nests of L. hemichalceum, these flightless bees will fight each other to the death. Leaving the victor with sole access to all female nest-mates.
Until recently, Lasioglossum (Homalictus) was placed in its own genus – Homalictus. This subgenus has some quite distinct differences from the other genera, one being the sharply folded dorsal terga, upper abdominal segments, and the long plumose scopal hairs under the abdomen.
With written contribution from Megan Halcroft