Bug FAQGotham Sweat Bee
Lasioglossum gotham · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Halictidae
Also called: Gotham Metallic-Sweat Bee
The Gotham bee is a small metallic-sweat bee about the size of a sesame seed; females are roughly 6 to 7 mm long and males about 5 mm long. It has a greenish-blue body with brown legs and antennae, males appearing bluer than the greener females, and it nests underground in the eastern and midwestern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The bee’s body is greenish-blue with brown legs and antennae. Males are bluer in color, while females show more green.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females measure about 6.1 to 7.1 mm (0.24 to 0.28 in) in length. Males are smaller, about 5.26 mm (0.207 in) long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Gotham bees build their nests underground. Urban populations in the Northeastern U.S. have shifted their spring activity about ten days earlier as temperatures rise.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to the eastern and midwestern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 25 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Maryland, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, Connecticut, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the Gotham bee look like?
It has a greenish-blue body with brown legs and antennae, and males appear bluer than the greener females.
Source: Wikipedia
How big are Gotham bees?
Females are about 6 to 7 mm long, while males are roughly 5 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does the Gotham bee live?
It is native to the eastern and midwestern United States and nests underground.
Source: Wikipedia
Which other bees could I mistake for a Gotham bee?
It looks most like Lasioglossum zephyrus and Lasioglossum smilacinae.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Halictidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasioglossum_gotham
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.