Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee Agapostemon virescens

This tiny bee holds a unique honor: it's the official bee of Toronto. Like other sweat bees, it's attracted to human perspiration to extract salts—not a pest behavior, just a fascinating adaptation. These bees nest underground in clever aggregations where multiple females share a single burrow system, creating a kind of natural apartment complex. Each female maintains her own cells and tends her own brood, but they live together peacefully. The 'bicolored striped' name comes from its metallic two-toned coloring. Found across North America, this small bee is an efficient pollinator despite its tiny size, visiting diverse wildflowers throughout its range.