Ligated furrow bee

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked
SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Ligated furrow bee is a very common, medium-sized, ground-nesting, eusocial bee. It occurs in the United States, Mexico, Central America, northern South America, and southern Canada. In the United States it occurs in each of the lower 48 states. It is common in the southern half of Minnesota, uncommon to absent in the north. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, especially in sandy areas. Adults are generalist feeders and can be found on a very wide variety of flowers.

The female is 5⁄16″ to ⅜″ (8 to 10 mm) in length. The head and body are entirely black with pale hairs and without a greenish cast. The head is much wider than long and appears thick. The compound eyes are parallel. On the face there is just a single line-like groove extending downward from the base of each antenna (subantennal suture). The cheeks are much wider than the eyes and are strongly hooked with a prominent knob-like projection at the base. The tongue is short.

The small plates (tegulae) covering the wing bases are coppery.

Each abdominal segment (tergum) has a band of whitish hairs at the bottom (apically). This feature distinguishes the genus Halictus from the closely related genus Lasioglossum, which has bands at the top (basally). The bands on the first two terga are narrow and inconspicuous, the remaining bands are distinct.

The wings are mostly translucent with yellowish veins and a yellowish cell (stigma) on the leading edge (costal margin) just before the marginal cell. The marginal cell is pointed but not sharply pointed. There are three submarginal cells. The first cell is longer than the third. The veins dividing the submarginal cells are dark and prominent. The basal vein is strongly arced at the base, like the letter J.

The male is smaller, ¼″ to ⅜″ (7 to 9 mm) in length. The head is as wide as long. The compound eyes converge slightly at the bottom. The cheeks are not as wide as the eyes. The legs are black at the base. The fourth leg segment (tibia) is brownish-gray on the underside, yellowish on the upper side.

Size

Female: 5⁄16″ to ⅜″ (8 to 10 mm)

Male: ¼″ to ⅜″ (7 to 9 mm)

Similar Species

Habitat

A wide variety of habitats, especially sandy areas

Ecology

Season

Several overlapping generations per year: early spring to autumn

Behavior

Sometimes large numbers build their nests close together.

Life Cycle

A young, hibernating, reproductive female (gyne) emerges in the spring. She builds a nest in the ground consisting of an 8″ to 3′ deep vertical tunnel with many short side tunnels. She lays a single egg in each side tunnel, provisions it with pollen, then seals the tunnel. The nest has a mound of dirt surrounding the entrance and looks like an ant hill.

Larva Food

Flower pollen

Adult Food

Flower nectar and pollen

Distribution

Sources

24, 27, 30, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu. Accessed 5/7/2026).

Halictus ligatus Say, 1837 in GBIF Secretariat (2023). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. Accessed 5/7/2026.