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East of the Mississippi River there are 4 species of Agapostemons. The largest of the metallic green Sweat Bees. In some places they can be extremely abundant. This species, however, is never abundant, but exists throughout its range in a here and there sort of way. Regularly occurring, but never dominating.

Male Agapostemon's almost all have this same pattern, Metallicy green on the head and thorax and then striped yellow and black on the abdomen. Females uniformly don't have yellow anywhere. Why is good question as this male yellowness syndrome runs throughout the bee kingdom, cutting across families.

Male Agapostemon's almost all have this same pattern, Metallicy green on the head and thorax and then striped yellow and black on the abdomen. Females uniformly don't have yellow anywhere. Why is good question as this male yellowness syndrome runs throughout the bee kingdom, cutting across families.

Male Agapostemon's almost all have this same pattern, Metallicy green on the head and thorax and then striped yellow and black on the abdomen. Females uniformly don't have yellow anywhere. Why is good question as this male yellowness syndrome runs throughout the bee kingdom, cutting across families.

Dominican Republic, The only described all black Agapostemon in the Caribbean is from Cuba. (A. obscuratus). Collected in November of 2012. This is either A. obscuratus and a new record for Hispaniola or a new species.

Dominican Republic, The only described all black Agapostemon in the Caribbean is from Cuba. (A. obscuratus). Collected in November of 2012. This is either A. obscuratus and a new record for Hispaniola or a new species.

Dominican Republic, The only described all black Agapostemon in the Caribbean is from Cuba. (A. obscuratus). Collected in November of 2012. This is either A. obscuratus and a new record for Hispaniola or a new species.

Another bee associated with deep sandy soils. This one also found in a study sand pit reclamation in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. Amazing to think that such metallic green bees are all around us having done their business for millions of years.

Another bee associated with deep sandy soils. This one also found in a study sand pit reclamation in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. Amazing to think that such metallic green bees are all around us having done their business for millions of years.

Hermaphrodite! (aka a gynandromorph) This Agapostemon texanus or angelicus (species can't be determined here) is part male and part female. This happens in I think all animals and I have seen about 5 of these after looking at about 400,000 bee specimens. This one was brought in by Tim McMahon after he collected it in Arizona.

Hermaphrodite! (aka a gynandromorph) This Agapostemon texanus or angelicus (species can't be determined here) is part male and part female. This happens in I think all animals and I have seen about 5 of these after looking at about 400,000 bee specimens. This one was brought in by Tim McMahon after he collected it in Arizona.

Hermaphrodite! (aka a gynandromorph) This Agapostemon texanus or angelicus (species can't be determined here) is part male and part female. This happens in I think all animals and I have seen about 5 of these after looking at about 400,000 bee specimens. This one was brought in by Tim McMahon after he collected it in Arizona.

More Green Bees. This is a common one, one of the commonest summer bees in the East. Agapostemon virescens. The females have a black abdomen unlike the other female Agapostemons in the East which are bright green all round. This one was caught in Caroline County in Maryland. Picture by Amanda Robinson.

More Green Bees. This is a common one, one of the commonest summer bees in the East. Agapostemon virescens. The females have a black abdomen unlike the other female Agapostemons in the East which are bright green all round. This one was caught in Caroline County in Maryland. Picture by Amanda Robinson.

More Green Bees. This is a common one, one of the commonest summer bees in the East. Agapostemon virescens. The females have a black abdomen unlike the other female Agapostemons in the East which are bright green all round. This one was caught in Caroline County in Maryland. Picture by Amanda Robinson.

More Green Bees. This is a common one, one of the commonest summer bees in the East. Agapostemon virescens. The females have a black abdomen unlike the other female Agapostemons in the East which are bright green all round. This one was caught in Caroline County in Maryland. Picture by Amanda Robinson.

More Green Bees. This is a common one, one of the commonest summer bees in the East. Agapostemon virescens. The females have a black abdomen unlike the other female Agapostemons in the East which are bright green all round. This one was caught in Caroline County in Maryland. Picture by Amanda Robinson.

Here is the face of the specimen in the previous photo.Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

This Agapostemon species is one of the most common native bees in the East. In almost any field there can be hundreds if not thousands of these bees visiting a wide variety of blooming plants.

Agapostemon splendens, female, Florida, October 2011, Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve

Agapostemon splendens, female, Florida, October 2011, Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve