Halictus sexcinctus

Description

Halictus sexcinctus, commonly referred to as the six-banded furrow bee, is a species of sweat bee found throughout Europe and as far east as Western Asia. The H. sexcinctus can be easily confused with the closely related species, Halictus scabiosae, due to very similar morphological features. H. sexcinctus show a social polymorphism in which different colonies can exhibit solitary, communal, or eusocial structure. Due to this large variance in social organization, it was suspected that it was not one species at all, but rather multiple, cryptic species. However, genetic analysis was able to confirm these varying populations as one species. H. sexcinctus will forage from multiple flower species, but prefers plant species with wide-open flowers. Their nests can be found dug into the ground in loamy or sandy soil.