Lasioglossum rufitarse (Zetterstedt, 1838)

A boreo-alpine species found in alpine meadows, wooded areas in the mountains, woodland edges and clearings, and upland moorlands (Westrich 1989). In Charnwood Forest, UK, Spooner (1946) observed the species nesting in all sorts of earth exposures, including the soil attached to the roots of fallen trees. Gardner (1901) states that in Lancashire and Cheshire the nesting burrows are excavated gregariously, generally in banks at the sides of ditches. In Warwickshire, Morice (1889) also noted the species nesting in the side of a ditch. It is considered to be a solitary species (Knerer and Schwarz 1976). Lasioglossum rufitarse is a polylectic species, in that it prefers to forage upon a wide range of flowering plants species, ;and in Germany, pollen records are from the following species: Hieracium pilosella (Asteraceae); Vaccnium myrtillus, Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Ericaceae); Ranunculus acris (Ranunculaceae) and Rubus fruticosus (Rosaceae)(Westrich 1989). Ebmer (1971) additionally lists Solidago (Asteraceae). It is a univoltine species (it has one generation per year) with an extended flight period. The females fly from early April (later in the mountains of central Europe) to the beginning of October, and the males from mid-July to at least late August.