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Sweat bees
Sweat bees
Lasioglossum spp.
Bee
Genus-level entry covering the small to tiny solitary sweat bees that visit composite flowers, herbs, and many native perennials. Underappreciated pollinators — what most people think of as 'tiny black bees' on flowers are often Lasioglossum species.
Plants in the catalog
Plants this species pollinates · 1
Canadian serviceberry
Amelanchier canadensis
Documented
Nectar plants · 11
American basswood
Tilia americana
Plausible
Small native sweat bees are part of the broad native-bee guild the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center notes basswood supports, though the source does not name genera.
Anise hyssop
Agastache foeniculum
Documented
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags special value to native bees generally, which includes small sweat bees such as Lasioglossum that work the small two-lipped flowers.
Blue vervain
Verbena hastata
Documented
Carries the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center "Special Value to Native Bees" designation, which covers small sweat bees among the native-bee guild it supports.
Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Documented
Small sweat bees and other native bees forage the shallow flowers; the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists boneset as a plant of special value to native bees and supporting conservation biological control.
California fuchsia
Epilobium canum
Documented
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center records "Special Value to Native Bees" for Epilobium canum; small sweat bees (Lasioglossum spp.) are among the generalist native bees that work the flowers.
Chives
Allium schoenoprasum
Documented
Common thyme
Thymus vulgaris
Documented
Garden sage
Salvia officinalis
Plausible
Oregano
Origanum vulgare
Documented
Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
Documented
Second-year umbels are heavily worked by small native bees + hoverflies.
Short-toothed mountain mint
Pycnanthemum muticum
Documented
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags Special Value to Native Bees; the shallow, accessible flowers suit small native sweat bees among many other short-tongued visitors.
Pollen plants · 15
American plum
Prunus americana
Documented
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists special value to native bees; the abundant early flowers feed ground- and small-bodied native bees emerging in early spring.
Beach plum
Prunus maritima
Plausible
Small native sweat bees are typical early-spring visitors to mass-flowering Prunus; consistent with the documented Special Value to Native Bees, though not named individually by the source.
California poppy
Eschscholzia californica
Documented
Lasioglossum sweat bees work the cup-shaped flowers heavily; the image used here documents Lasioglossum calceatum visiting a California poppy bloom at Munich Botanical Garden. The cup architecture suits short-tongued sweat bees particularly well.
Common yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Documented
Small sweat bees in the Lasioglossum genus visit the tiny ray florets in dense numbers; yarrow flower-head architecture supports both large and small bee species concurrently.
Eastern prickly pear
Opuntia humifusa
Documented
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, citing the Xerces Society Pollinator Program, lists Opuntia humifusa as having special value to native bees; small sweat bees (Lasioglossum spp.) are among the native bees that forage the abundant pollen of the open yellow flowers.
English lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
Plausible
Foamflower
Tiarella cordifolia
Documented
Garden strawberry
Fragaria × ananassa
Plausible
Small sweat bees commonly visit strawberry flowers for pollen. NC State Extension records a specialized native Andrena bee (A. melanochroa) on this plant; absent a matching catalog entry for that genus, small ground-nesting bees are represented here by Lasioglossum.
Golden alexanders
Zizia aurea
Documented
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center records special value to native bees. The shallow open umbels are well matched to short-tongued spring bees such as small sweat bees (Lasioglossum), which work the accessible pollen and nectar early in the season.
Ground cherry
Physalis pruinosa
Plausible
NC State notes the Physalis genus supports specialized native bees; small sweat bees such as Lasioglossum are among the generalist visitors that forage pollen from the open yellow flowers. Mapped at plausible confidence — the toolbox states a genus-level bee association, not a species-specific record for Physalis pruinosa.
Stiff goldenrod
Solidago rigida
Documented
Sunchoke
Helianthus tuberosus
Plausible
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags Helianthus tuberosus as of Special Value to Native Bees; small native sweat bees (Lasioglossum spp.) are among the generalist native bees that forage such late-summer composite sunflowers, mapped here as the closest catalog representative of that documented native-bee value.
White wood aster
Eurybia divaricata
Documented
Wild geranium
Geranium maculatum
Documented
Wild lupine
Lupinus perennis
Documented
Carries the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center "special value to native bees" flag; small native sweat bees (Lasioglossum and relatives) work the spring flowers for pollen.
Range
Cosmopolitan; hundreds of species across North America.
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