Some bees in this family include:
- Big metallic green bees (Agapostemon)
- Small metallic green bees (Augochloropsis, Augochlorella, Augochlora)
- Small sweat bees (Lasioglossum)
- Sweat bees (Halictus)
There are also cuckoo bee species (Sphecodes) in this family. They look like Lasioglossum but can be recognized by their red abdomens.
This family is characterized by a gradient in the forms of sociality they exhibit from solitary, communal, to social behaviours. This variation even exists within a same species, the degree of sociality depends on the climate, the elevation, food resources and/or other environmental factors.
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Big metallic green bees
2025-12-05
Usually medium sized bees (nine to 11 mm), Agapostemon have a beautiful bright metallic green coloration, sometimes blueish, with pale hairs almost invisible with our own eyes. In one species (Agapostemon virescens), females have white stripes of hairs on a black abdomen. Males look a little bit different with their black and yellow abdomen, they have yellow legs as well. As other genera in this family, males have long antennae.
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Small metallic green bees
2025-12-05
As with other bees in this family, these bees are slender and, as their name implies, are bright metallic green, sometimes blueish. They have pale hairs although they are not very noticeable unless you see them close up.
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Small sweat bees
2025-12-05
Small sweat bees are usually small, but some are medium-sized (three to 10 mm). Lasioglossum is a very diverse genus with about 100 species in Canada. Usually dark-coloured, they vary in colours from metallic blue to dull green, to brown or black; but some have a light yellow/orange abdomen. These bees are similar to the Halictus bees (above) and they too have males with long antennae.
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Sweat bees
2025-12-05
Sweat bees are small to medium sized bees (seven to 13 mm in size). These slender bees are almost all dark with pale hairs which form a distinctive banding pattern on their abdomen. One species (Halictus confusus) is small, dull green and looks very similar to Lasioglossum species.
