A very similar bee to Lasioglossum calceatum (Scopoli) but not as frequent as that species. The males are most easily separated by the possession of a yellow labrum, that of the male Lasioglossum calceatum being usually black or blackish. The females are more difficult but in albipes the propodeum is less sculptured posterolaterally. They are also smaller and with a longer, less-rounded face.
A large Hylaeus that is most often found at flowers of mignonette and weld.
This bee is a very close relative of the scarcer Hylaeus incongruus Förster (formerly misidentified in Britain as H. gibbus (Saunders)) and the females of the two species can be difficult to distinguish apart, although the extent of the yellow facial markings offers the best character for identification. In southern England both species are occasionally found flying together.
The female can be identified by a combination of the finely striated clypeus, the wedge shaped paraocular (facial) markings and absence of white hair fringes on first gastral tergite. The male has, amongst British species, uniquely shaped paraocular markings, their apices being turned inwards around and above the antennal sockets.
In Britain, Hoplitis claviventris was formerly misidentified as H. leucomelana (Yarrow, 1970).
Else & Edwards (in press) will cover this species. It has also been covered in numerous other works, including Banaszak & Romasenko (2001) and Amiet et al. (2004).
First recorded from the British mainland in Dorset in 2006. A second record was made in SE London in 2016. It is also present on the Channel Islands.
Dufourea minuta is the senior synonym of D. vulgaris Schenck, 1861 (Baker, 1994).