HomalictusHomalictus dotatus Homalictus urbanus
The Homalictus is a subgenus of the genus Lasioglossum and are found in Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, east across the Pacific to the Mariana Islands, Samoa, Fiji and are in prevalent in Australia. At the time of writing (19 January 2022), Atlas of Living Australia had listed 43 species.
The tiny Homalictus bees are no more than 8 mm in length, with many sporting metallic coloured glints that vary between species – aqua blue, dark green, golden green and orange.
Homalictus Bees collect and carry the pollen on soft fine hairs underneath the abdomen (a characteristic of Homalictus), as well as on their hind legs. Whilst Leafcutter Bees and Resin Bees also carry pollen under the abdomen, the pollen is held on stiff straight bristles, and they do not carry pollen on their legs.
They can often be found visiting the flowers of pigface. The following Homalictus urbanus was visiting the local lotus flower in a fish pond in Alice Springs.
The Homalictus species of native bees are known to nest in deep burrows in the ground, with the female of some species sharing a single nest burrow in which they lay their eggs.
The Homalictus shine metallic green through gold to shiny copper, depending on how the light catches them and the angle they’re on.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Hymenoptera
- Superfamily: Apoidea
- Informal: Apiformes
- Family: Halictidae
- Subfamily: Halictinae
- Genus: Homalictus
- Subgenus:
- Homalictus (Homalictus) Cockerell, 1919
- Homalictus (Papualictus) Michener, 1980
- Homalictus (Quasilictus) Walker, 1986
Footnote & References
- Homalictus (Homalictus) Cockerell, 1919 – Classification, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:ea6f8b79-739a-4755-9956-deba92c78baf#classification
- Homalictus Bees, Aussie Bee, https://www.aussiebee.com.au/homalictus.html
- Homalictus, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homalictus (last visited Jan. 19, 2022)
HomalictusHomalictus dotatus Homalictus urbanus
BeesBees Anatomy Bee Behaviour Blogging Bees… Bees – image index Amegilla Bee Apis mellifera Austroplebeia australis Austrothurgus Braunsapis sp Ceylalictus perditellus Colletidae Euryglossinae Exoneura Homalictus Hyleoides bivulnerata Lasioglossum Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) Lipotriches Megachile Meroglossa Stenotritidae Tetragonula Thyreus Xylocopa