sweat bee

noun

: any of various small black or brownish bees (family Halictidae) that are attracted to perspiration

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

This mysterious insect, described recently in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, was an exceedingly rare gynandromorph—an animal that is anatomically half male, half female—the first one ever identified in the species Megalopta amoena, a type of sweat bee found in Central and South America. —Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2020

This is the backend of a Lipotriches (plain sweat bee) collected in Australia. —Discover Staff, Discover Magazine, 29 July 2015

Then, there are nocturnal bees, such as Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) texana, or the sweat bee, that can fly when during full moons and half moons, the site says. —Maria Jimenez Moya, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2022

Erin Krichilsky needed a microscope to discover bilateral gynandromorphy in a tiny sweat bee while working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. —Jason Bittel, National Geographic, 5 Aug. 2020

One other Megalopta gynandromorph has shown its face to scientists before: a male-female hybrid in a closely related sweat bee species called Megalopta genalis, identified in 1999. —Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2020

Then a sweat bee might make an attempt on your sweat. —Nell Zink, Harper's magazine, 28 Oct. 2019

So, how did sweat bees end up camping out inside a 29-year-old woman's eye? —oregonlive, 10 Apr. 2019

Honeybees, sweat bees, yellow jackets and wasps all use methylation to produce their queens. —Quanta Magazine, 6 May 2014

See More

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above