Species: Lathbury's Nomad Bee (Nomada lathburiana)
Family: Bumble and Honey Bees (APIDAE)
Category: Insects (Other)
Location: SE
A. Insects (Other)
More extensive information on insects can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Bumble and Honey Bees (APIDAE)
Nomad bees are small, relatively hairless bees that often resemble small wasps. They are between 4 and 9 millimetres in length. All Nomad bees steal from other species of bees. Females enter the host's nest burrow to lay eggs before any cells have been sealed up. When its grub hatches from the egg, it will devour the host egg or grub with its large jaws before feeding on the food store that the host parent had provisioned the cells with. There are 34 species of British Nomad bees. Differentiating one from another requires considerable magnification - and knowledge.
The Nomada genus belongs to the Apidiae family of bees, commonly known as Bumblebees and Honey Bees.
C. Lathbury's Nomad Bee (Nomada lathburiana)
These nomad bees are small (7 to 9 mm forewing length), with black, yellow and reddish-brown markings. They fly from April to June and can be found throughout Britain, although more so in the south. In Victorian times, these insects were considered to be rare. They are not seen in Scotland and were first seen in Ireland in 2022.
Lathbury's Nomad Bees visit blossoming shrubs, dandelions and Germander Speedwell, but they are - as with all nomad bees - parasitic on two species of bee, Andrena cineraria and Andrena vaga.
Images
Lathbury's Nomad Bee (Nomada lathburiana)
Lathbury's Nomad Bees are small (7 to 9 mm forewing length), with black, yellow and reddish-brown markings. This individual was photographed in the cemetery at the end of April.
Lathbury's Nomad Bee (Nomada lathburiana)
Lathbury's Nomad Bees visit blossoming shrubs, dandelions and Germander Speedwell, but they are - as with all nomad bees - parasitic on two species of bee, Andrena cineraria and Andrena vaga. This individual was photographed in the cemetery at the end of April. The reddish pile on top of the thorax distinguishes it as Nomada lathburiana.
