Lasioglossum (Homalictus) dotatum

Alice Springs Fauna •

Lasioglossum (Homalictus)Lasioglossum (Homalictus) on Eucalyptus orbifolia Lasioglossum (Homalictus) dotatum Lasioglossum (Homalictus) urbanus

Alice Springs BeesAmegilla Bee Braunsapis sp Bright-white Masked Bee Bush Bee Ceylalictus perditellus European Honey Bee Exoneurella eremophila Golden-browed Resin Bee Lasioglossum (Homalictus) Lasioglossum (Parasphecodes) Lipotriches Megachile deanii Red-headed Masked Bee Stenotritidae genus Stenotritus Xanthesma (Xenohesma)

Lasioglossum (Homalictus) dotatum belongs to the subfamily Halictinae, a group of native bees that are commonly called Sweat and Furrow Bees. Once known as Homalictus dotatus, the reclassification has changed the name to “dotatum“.

Pictured here is a male Lasioglossum dotatum, subgenus Homalictus, rescued from a swimming pool in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.

…the specimen is a male. However, the species name ending has changed with the move of Homalictus to a subgenus of Lasioglossum. The correct name is now Lasioglossum (Homalictus) dotatum. The species name ending must match the gender of the genus (um) – an odd rule.
Ken Walker¹

…the way I understand it, when Homalictus (the ending “us” in Latin being masculine gender) was a genus of it’s own, the species within that genus likewise must follow and be masculine, thus dotatus… Now it’s a subgenus the gender refers back to genus, now Lasioglossum, the ending “um” being neutral gender, and so it must follow that the masculine dotatus is neutered (poor bugger ) and is now dotatum
Gary Taylor²

One of the feature that identify some species in the subgenus Homalictus including the species pictured here is the colour of the thorax, with the metallic green sheen and the reddish brown abdomen.