Pollinator Profile #5: Metallic Green Sweat Bee (Agapostemon sp.)
Favorite song: Let’s Get Physical
Guilty pleasure: Salty snacks
Motto: Good things come in small packages!
With its shiny green head and thorax, the metallic green sweat bee glistens like a jewel among the flowers of the SBG. Look more closely at this tiny visitor, and you’ll see how its contrasting striped abdomen perfectly completes its fashion statement. It may look decorative, but this beautiful bee is working hard, too—much pollen is carried on the scopal hairs of its back legs.
One of the most well-known traits of sweat bees is their supposed attraction to human perspiration, which contains both the moisture and salts that they need. Although scientists continue to debate the veracity of this claim, there’s no doubting one thing: This little bee’s attraction to humans gives us a great opportunity for up-close and personal appreciation!
Author: Lisa Schneider
Favorite song: Let’s Get Physical
Guilty pleasure: Salty snacks
Motto: Good things come in small packages!
With its shiny green head and thorax, the metallic green sweat bee glistens like a jewel among the flowers of the SBG. Look more closely at this tiny visitor, and you’ll see how its contrasting striped abdomen perfectly completes its fashion statement. It may look decorative, but this beautiful bee is working hard, too—much pollen is carried on the scopal hairs of its back legs.
One of the most well-known traits of sweat bees is their supposed attraction to human perspiration, which contains both the moisture and salts that they need. Although scientists continue to debate the veracity of this claim, there’s no doubting one thing: This little bee’s attraction to humans gives us a great opportunity for up-close and personal appreciation!
Author: Lisa Schneider
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