Common Furrow Bee vs Compact Thread-leaf Century Plant

Lasioglossum calceatum compared with Agave microceps

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Furrow Bee	Compact Thread-leaf Century Plant
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)	Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family	Halictidae	Asparagaceae
Genus	Lasioglossum	Agave
Species	Lasioglossum calceatum	Agave microceps

Conservation Status

Common Furrow Bee

LC — Least Concern

Compact Thread-leaf Century Plant

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Furrow Bee	Compact Thread-leaf Century Plant
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Furrow Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

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

Compact Thread-leaf Century Plant

Habitat

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

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.

Compact Thread-leaf Century Plant

<em>Agave microceps</em>, the compact thread-leaf century plant, is a perennial succulent in the family Asparagaceae native to Mexico, representing one of the smaller members of the ecologically and culturally significant agave genus. Agaves are iconic succulents of arid and semi-arid regions characterised by a rosette of thick, fibrous leaves typically edged with teeth and terminating in a sharp spine. <em>Agave microceps</em> typically forms compact, densely-leaved rosettes with notably narrow, thread-margined leaves, distinguishing it from larger agave species. It inhabits rocky slopes, dry grasslands, and scrublands in its native Mexican range, adapted to well-drained soils and periods of seasonal drought. Like all agaves, it is monocarpic, flowering once after many years of vegetative growth before dying, producing a tall flower spike that provides food resources for bats, hummingbirds, and insects. The species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, indicating a stable population without critical current threats, though many agave species face pressure from illegal collection for the horticultural trade and habitat conversion. Agaves play important roles in native ecosystems as food sources for specialist pollinators and as habitat elements on rocky hillsides. Biological traits including average lifespan in the wild, precise rosette dimensions, and population data remain poorly documented for this species compared to more commercially important agaves.