Species: Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica agg.)
Family: Mining bees (ANDRENIDAE)
Category: Insects (Other)
Location: Widespread
A. Insects (Other)
More extensive information on insects can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Mining bees (ANDRENIDAE)
Mining bees are solitary, ground-nesting bees that have been on earth for more than 30 million years. The Andrenidae family consists of around 1,300 species.
C. Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica agg.)
Andrena scotica is one of the larger mining bees found in Britain. Females nest singly, although they often share a burrow entrance with several other females, as can be seen in one of the photographs below. There are not many mining bees that have this behaviour.
This is one of the most common mining bees found in Britain. They are very important pollinators.
[Although the Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society (BWARS) does not recognize the English common name for this species, it is used by Steven Falk in his Field Guide to the Bees of Britain and Ireland, so we have adopted that usage here.]
Images
Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica agg.)
Andrena scotica is one of the larger mining bees found in Britain. Females - this photograph shows a female - nest singly, although they often share a burrow entrance with several other females, as can be seen in one of the photographs below. There are not many mining bees that have this behaviour.
This is one of the most common mining bees of Britain. They are very important pollinators.
Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica agg.)
Females nest singly, although they often share a burrow entrance with several other females, as can be seen in this photograph.
