The genus Halictus is a large assemblage of bee species in the family Halictidae. The genus is divided into 15 subgenera, some of dubious monophyly, containing over 200 species, primarily in the Northern Hemisphere (a few species occur in South America, Asia and Africa). Most species are black or dark brown, sometimes metallic greenish-tinted, with apical whitish abdominal bands on the terga (the related genus Lasioglossum, which is otherwise often similar in appearance, has the abdominal hair bands located basally, not apically).