Normski4ash - Macro Photography
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Nomada Ruficornis - Common Bee wasp
Compared to the females the males are considerably smaller and much hairier. It is a good wasp mimic, and usually has blotches of red on the abdomen.
Andrena Carantonica
Andrena carantonica is a mining bee. These are very hairy bees and at 10 to 14 mm Andrena carantonica is one of the larger species, the male being slightly smaller than the female. They are slimmer in appearance than bumblebees.
Bombus Sylvestris
A cuckoo bumblebee, like the bird it is named after, lays its eggs in another bumblebee’s nest and leaves the workers of that nest to rear the young.
Early Bumble Bee
Bombus pratorum is a relatively small bee and has a short tongue. Consequently it is rarely found on vetches but can manage to forage on white clover, lavender, sage, allium, cotoneaster, thistles and other daisy type flowers.
Early Mining Bee - Andrena haemorrhoa
Length 8 to 11 mm. The thorax is foxy brown on top; the abdomen is black, except for the rear end, which is foxy brown again. The male is much smaller than the female and its hairs are much lighter colour, tending to grey or even white.
Honey Bee - Apis mellifera
A social bee living in permanent colonies of perhaps 50,000. Wild colonies like to nest in hollow trees or similar sheltered situations. The hive structure consists of wax 'honeycombs'; each honeycomb is made of small cells, which are used to store food or to rear the brood. Bees feed on nectar and pollen taken from flowers; stores of honey (regurgitated nectar) and pollen (gathered on the legs in special 'pollen baskets') see them through the winter and enable them to stay together as a colony. Although fairly common and widespread in Britain, competition from introduced species, and cross breeding, plus the threat from the mite Varroa jacobsoni, have caused worrying decline of population numbers.
Plasterer Bee Hylaeus communis
Size 6 to 8 mm. Males can be distinguished by the facial markings with the yellow on the face obviously divided by black bands and curling around the antennal sockets. Females have far more restricted yellow on the face, just a small patch lying against the edge of the eye
Red-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius
Lengths queen 20-22 mm, workers 11-16 mm, male 14-16 mm. Bombus lapidarius is probably the most easily recognised bumblebee species, with its black body and bright orange tail. The workers have the same colouring as the queen but are much smaller. The males also have similar colouring but with more yellow hair.
These bees prefer to nest underground and the base of a dry stone wall is a popular location but it will nest under other stones and slabs. The size of the nest can vary considerably from over 200 bees to less than 100.
Tree Bumblebee - Bombus hypnorum
Queens, workers and males all tend to have black heads, tawny or darker gingery brown thorax, and a blackish abdomen with a white tail. There is considerable variation with some very dark examples whilst others are predominantly tawny.
Common Carder Bumblebee - Bombus pascuorum
The Common Carder Bumblebee is the only common bumblebee to have a completely ginger thorax. Although the abdomen also tends to be gingery, it is more variable in colour, and can be greyish or red. The coat tends to be rather scruffy-looking and is short. This species has a fairly long tongue and males can be distinguished from females as they have longer antennae.
Osmia caerulescens
Length 8 to 10 mm. The females have a blue metallic lustre to the abdomen giving rise to its common name, with black pollen-collecting hairs underneath. The males are bronze with pale yellow hairs and a shining slope at the front of the abdomen that distinguishes this species from other bees.
Nomad Bee - Fabricius'
Females can be identified by their reddish antennae with several of the intermediate segments being black. This banded appearance is visible in the field. Both sexes have a reddish abdomen, often having small yellow spots. It also has bidentate mandibles.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris
Possibly the earliest bee to be seen and the largest to visit gardens. The queen is 2 cm or more, the workers and drones are of a more common bumblebee size: 14 to 17 mm in length. Whilst similar to Bombus lucorum, queens can be distinguished by the more golden yellow bands, compared to the lemon yellow of B. lucorum. However workers are generally indistinguishable in the field. Sometimes British specimens have a buff or orangey tail, which helps with identification.
Sweat Bee - Common Furrow-bee - Lasioglossum calceatum
A slender mining bee, There are several similar species and expert help should be sought with identification. It exploits a variety of habitats and flowers. Seen from spring into early autumn.
Andrena Labialis
Forewing 7.5-9mm A dullish, fairly robust Andrena species. Females have buff hairs on the face and legs and a densely punctate thorax and tergites. Males have extensive yellow facial markings.
Habitat - Grassland or other areas with good populations of legumes such as vetches, clovers and bird's-foot-trefoils.