Clifton's Anguloa vs Common Furrow Bee

Anguloa cliftonii compared with Lasioglossum calceatum

Key Differences

• Clifton's Anguloa is Critically Endangered while Common Furrow Bee is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clifton's Anguloa	Common Furrow Bee
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Asparagales (Asparagales)	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family	Orchidaceae	Halictidae
Genus	Anguloa	Lasioglossum
Species	Anguloa cliftonii	Lasioglossum calceatum

Conservation Status

Clifton's Anguloa

CR — Critically Endangered

Common Furrow Bee

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clifton's Anguloa	Common Furrow Bee
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clifton's Anguloa

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Common Furrow Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

Clifton's Anguloa

Clifton's Anguloa, Anguloa cliftonii, is a striking terrestrial orchid in the family Orchidaceae native to the cloud forests of the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The genus Anguloa, known as cradle orchids or tulip orchids, is celebrated among orchid enthusiasts for its large, tulip-shaped, waxy flowers that rock gently when moved, simulating the movement of a bee—a presumed pollination adaptation. The flowers of Anguloa cliftonii are creamy white to pale yellow, often with pink or rose spotting, and are produced singly on erect peduncles arising from the base of large, pleated pseudobulbs. The plant is a cool-growing epiphyte or lithophyte found in humid montane forest at elevations between approximately 1,500 and 2,500 meters in the Andes. Anguloa species are pollinated by male euglossine bees attracted to fragrant compounds. The cloud forest habitats of the Andes are among the world's most biodiverse ecosystems and simultaneously among the most threatened, subject to deforestation for agriculture, cattle ranching, and coca cultivation. Many Andean orchid species are also threatened by over-collection for the horticultural trade. Anguloa cliftonii is cultivated in specialist collections and is the subject of conservation concern in its native range.

Common Furrow Bee

<em>Lasioglossum calceatum</em>, commonly known as the common furrow bee, is a eusocial bee in the family Halictidae. The species has been documented in Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden, and its range extends broadly across Europe and parts of Asia. Furrow bees in the genus <em>Lasioglossum</em> are among the most diverse groups of bees, and <em>L. calceatum</em> is one of the more commonly encountered halictid species in temperate European habitats. The species typically inhabits a variety of open and semi-open landscapes including grasslands, meadows, gardens, and woodland edges, nesting in the ground. It is assessed as Least Concern, consistent with its wide European distribution. <em>Lasioglossum calceatum</em> is a generalist forager, visiting a broad range of flowering plants for pollen and nectar, and thus contributes to pollination services in diverse habitats. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature. Colonies are typically small and primitively eusocial, with a single foundress queen and worker offspring, making this species of interest for studies of the evolution of sociality in bees.