Confusing Furrow Bee

Halictus confusus is 7 millimetres (0.28 in) in length, the forewing is 5.5 millimetres (0.22 in) long. Females have a greenish head and thorax, darkening to blackish on the clypeus and black on the abdomen, with metallic greenish highlights. The legs are blackish, becoming reddish distally. The head is slightly broader than long, with the eyes slightly converging ventrally and the clypeus obviously protruding. The wings are hyaline, with yellow venation, and the tegulae are yellowish anteriorly and otherwise reddish. Males are generally similar, but the mandibles, labrum, and outer third of the clypeus are yellow, the wing venation is more reddish, and the legs have a narrow outer yellowish stripe on the tibia and yellowish tarsi. In Britain and Europe this species could easily be confused with Halictus tumulorum and can only be reliably separated by examining the genitalia of the males; more subtle features are that fresh female H. confusus have wider pale banding on tergites 3 and 4 while males have more yellow on the joints of the hind and middle legs.

Halictus confusus is widely distributed in Europe, Asia and North America. A number of subspecies have been described, among which are:

H. c. confusus Smith, 1853 - North America H. c. alpinus Alfken, 1907 - This subspecies has been recorded from China, Poland, Spain and Switzerland H. c. arapahonum Cockerell, 1906 - Midwest North America H. c. pelagius Ebmer, 1996 - Russia H. c. perkinsi Blüthgen, 1926 - western Europe, except for the higher mountains and China In Great Britain this species has a southerly distribution from Dorset east to Kent and north to Norfolk. In North America its distribution extends from Nova Scotia to North Dakota southwards into Florida and Texas.