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Augochlora pura is a solitary sweat bee found primarily in the Eastern United States. It is known for its bright green color and its tendency to forage from a variety of plants. Inhabiting rotten logs, this bee will produce up to three generations per year. Both males and females have been seen to lick sweat from human skin, most likely seeking salt as opposed to water.

Taxonomy and phylogeny
Hymenoptera contains over 20,000 species within seven families. The Halictidae family contains four genera, Halictus, Lasioglossum, Augochlorella, and Augochlora. Within the halictids, over 4000 species have been defined, and only about a quarter of them are eusocial.

Description and identification
Both males and females are approximately 8mm long, and their entire bodies are a shiny bright green, sometimes it a coppery tint. Males tend to have darker mandibles and my be slightly more blue, but otherwise males and females are similar.

Distribution and habitat
Augochlora pura is found mainly in the eastern United States. It typical inhabits the land between Maine and Minnesota, and between Texas and Florida in the south. A. pura has been documented as far north as Quebec. It's season is February through November, with the longer seasons in the more southern states. Augochlora builds its nests in rotten wood within dense forests. It spends most of its time near its habitats, but also visits nearby brush and pastures. According to a study on the bottomland hardwood forest of the southeastern United States, A. pura accounted for about 91% of bees collected.

Life cycle
A. pura has a flight season from early April through September, but nests are only active from early May to early August. Unlike other halictids, A. pura will not take flight in response to warm days later in the fall. There will be two to three generations per year in nature, as limited by the seasons, but bees in the laboratory have been shown to produce at least six generations per year. There is no reason to believe these generations would not continue indefinitely. In nature, females will become active in August and September, mate, and remain in a state of ovarian diapause on the moist soil beneath rotting logs. In contrast, all males die in the fall. Overwintered females found new nests in April. Their offspring emerge in June and proceed to found nests of their own by the end of the month. Males tend to emerge from the first cells built, and females hatch shortly after. Males in the laboratory live on average about 14.88 days.

Nest construction
Augochlora pura uses the burrows of insects as its starting point, and makes a variety of achitectural structures within the xylem and phloem of the tree. Depending on the availability of resources, they may construct cluster nests, with superimposed horizontal layers, platform nests, with all cells within one plane, and tunnel nests with single or chainlike rows. Nests are often intermediated of these three types. Cells begin with as wood fragments supported by the floor or ceiling. Then, this framework is coated with substrate and finally a waxy coating. This waxy coating is thought to be the product of the oxidation of secretions of the Darfour's gland.

Social behavior
As a solitary bee, Augochlora pura females do not remain in their mother's nest if she is alive. However, there may be times in which A. pura females group together. When the mother is old or deceased, multiple young females may live as a group. Multiple females have also been seen huddled together to overwinter. There is no worker caste, and reproductive females are not cooperative. Bees attempting to enter a nest that does not belong to them will be promptly attacked. Mothers have even been observed to attack their own offspring. If nests meet by chance, a wall is quickly constructed between them. Males return to the same sleeping places each night, and may sleep in groups of up to six males, but only if sleeping places are limited. In this case, all males sleeping together will face the same direction. Males will enter vacant nests and attack any other males attempting to enter.

Cell recognition
Augochlora pura is able to avoid destroying new cells. They differentiate them from other walls of the burrows through the odor of fresh pollen in combination with the shape and texture of new cells. They are thought to be able to feel the texture and integrity of walls to determine their composition.

Mating behavior
Augochlora pura mates while visiting flowers. All, or nearly all, females will mate. Males will fly in swarms and hover over flowers. They fly from flower to flower to feed, and will land on any similarly sized insect on a flower. In fact, they will even pounce on black dots on paper. When he finds a receptive female, he mates with her for third seconds to two minutes. Instead of pursuing females in the air, Augochlora pura males wait for her to land on a flower. Like in Lasioglossum zephyrum, the odors of Augochlora pura females function as aphrodisiacs. Males have been observed to stack themselves on top of a copulating male, attempting to mate with that one female. A. pura males have been observed to stroke the female's head with their antennae before and during copulation. During copulation, male will release their grasp and remain connected only through their genitalia. Females may attempt to crawl or bite the male's metastomas. Copulation in the field lasts for approximately 28.5 seconds. Males have not been shown to have a preference for either young or old females.

Daily rhythms
Females behave rhythmically during the nesting phase. They construct cells, one at a time, during the night. They forage throughout the morning, feeding on nectar first, and then collecting pollen. Then, they spend their afternoons forming balls of provisions, performing oviposition, and capping cells. If guarding occurs, it tends to happen during the midday or afternoon.

Economy of labor
Augochlora pura is known for its economy of labor. It can build its cells in various arrangements depending on environmental constraints. Steps in the cell construction process are sometimes omitted. For example, the primary cell construction is skipped if there is an old cell can can be utilized. This plasticity is pivotal to the parasitic and social behaviors of halictids.

Foraging
Augochlora pura forages in a variety of flowers, including more inconspicuous species like walnut. They have been observed visiting over 40 distinct species. In the laboratory, A. pura even foraged for nectar, pollen, or both at foreign flowers not found near their habitat. A bee will collect pollen from up to ten flowers to provision a single cell, and these are often from different species. Males exhibit patrolling behavior. The will fly between specific flowers and maintain this route continuously with only short rests. They fly so quickly that they may be difficult to follow visually.

Interactions with other species
Inside rotten logs, A. pura has been seen to associate with nests of another bee species, Lasioglossum coeruleum. Augochlora pura utilizes the powdered wood produced by passalid beetles when constructing their nests.Many A. pura found dead in the spring are covered with the fungus Fusarium. It's unclear whether the fungus was actually the cause of death. Nematodes of the species Aduncospiculum halicti have been discovered in the Darfour's gland and genital tract of both males and females.