Sweat bee - unnamed 2

This small male Lasioglossum bee was photographed in early July 2025.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Lasioglossum sp.
Family: 
Sweat bees
Family Latin name: 
HALICTIDAE
Category: 
Insects other

Species description

Species description

This small male Lasioglossum bee was photographed on a Field Bindweed flower in early July 2025. We have been unable to establish an exact species identification, perhaps unsurprisingly as there are 34 different Lasioglossum bees in the UK (plus one that is thought to now be extinct), of which 27 have historically been seen in Sussex. The differing physical characteristics between these species are often small and require examination under a microscope.

When this individual was photographed, our records already contained two other bees in this family: another unidentified Lassioglosum that the county recorder thought could possibly be Lasioglossum calceatum or Lasioglossum albipes, and a Green Furrow Bee (Lasioglossum morio). Judging only from the photographs of these small bees, it is obvious that this bee is neither of these. It has no red markings on the abdominal tergites, and it does not have a metallic, dusky colour (which is the case with four Lasioglossum bees). [As one of the objectives of this database is to demonstrate biodiversity, we have therefore included this bee in our records. We expect there to be more Lasioglossum bees that we will see in the Cemetery, although adding further unidentified ones will become less and less feasible.]

For the most authoritative online references on these particular bees, we encourage you to view the BWARS page on Lasioglossum bees, and the Flickr pages of entomologist Steven Falk.

Most Lasiglossum bees nest underground, although they require light—not clay—soils. Some are entirely solitary; others are primitively eusocial wherein there are non-reproductive female workers.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
This small male Lasioglossum bee was photographed in early July 2025.
This small male Lasioglossum bee was photographed in early July 2025.

Details

Species family information

Halictic bees are called either End-banded Furrow Bees or Sweat Bees, the latter in recognition of the fact that they drink perspiration. This family of bees is the second-largest wild bee family. They are a diverse group, varying in appearance. Typically, these bees mass-provision their young with pollen and nectar, rather than doing so progressively.

Category information

Insects evolved in the Ordovician from a crustacean ancestral lineage as terrestrial invertebrates with six legs (the Hexapoda). This was the time when terrestrial plants first appeared. In the Devonian some insects developed wings and flight, the first animals to do so. An early flying group was the Odonata from the Carboniferous, the damselflies and dragonflies, which have densely-veined wings and long, ten-segmented bodies. They are day-flying carnivores, with an aquatic larval stage, so are commonly seen flying near water. The carnivorous larvae are called nymphs. Odonata species are short-lived, damselflies surviving for 2-4 weeks, dragonflies for up to 2 months.

Some insect groups in the Cretaceous co-evolved with the flowering plants, and they have had a close association ever since. These groups are the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the Diptera (flies), and the Coleoptera (beetles). The diversity of beetles is astonishing. Of all the known animal species on the planet, one in five is a beetle!