Unidentified Bee

[suzee85]

Hi, Last summer I happened to notice there were strange flies appearing from and dissapearing into invisable burrows in the dirt between the flag stones in a very old church yard/ bowls green. On closer inspection I realised they were actually bees. They are furry pretty much all over but not big and fluffy like bummble bees. They were pretty much black all over with perhaps a hint of orange near their heads. I've never seen them anywhere else before but the site is very close to Stirling Castle, maybe a couple hundred meters, and they have gardens with very old species of flower. They've already discovered one type of bee in the gardens they had thought was extinct in Britain, this could be it or another species, I really have no idea.

For the most part they were just entering their burrows with pollen laden legs then leaving again. you couldn't see the entrances to the burrows once they were in or once they had left although you could tell the earth was disturbed.

I know this isn't a very good discription but it has been bugging me for ages!

Thanks to anyone who replies!

[Dogghound]

There are several species that these could be ( Likely Andrenidae). You would need a photo to get an exact species.

Welcome to WAB.

[tristanba]

Was it in the early spring? If so, these were possibly female Anthophora plumipes, which are all black.

[suzee85]

Yeah, I think it was early spring. I'll keep my eye out for them this spring n see if I can get a picture, it's hard to tell the time of year though what with the seasons being all over the place these days!

Thanks for the info though and thanks for the welcome!

[suzee85]

Wow! I just had a look at the distrabution map for those female Plumipes, they're all REALLY far south! i'm about central scotland region, do you still think it could be them? They do look relitively similar from what I remeber, with the rusty legs too, but I don't know...

Plus just looked at some photos of the Andrenidae, deffinatly not one of them, wrong body shape and just not quite hairy enough, anyway, as I said I will attempt to get a picture in a couple of months. Plus I emailed the Professor of Stirling University's School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Dave
Goulson to ask what kind of bee it was they found at the castle.

Thnks again guys!

[tristanba]

Hi Suzee,

You're right that Anthophora plumipes is a southern species - although it is expanding its range northwards I'm sure it hasn't reached Scotland yet.

Bees are really hard to identify, even with a photo! I think you are probably describing some kind of mining bee (Andrena), some of which can be very dark in colour.

Cheers
Tristan

[JRsbugs]

Hi Suzee,

It all sounds very exciting! I have often thought there could be 'extinct' species hiding out where grounds are relatively undisturbed.

Your description with the orange colour near the head, and legs covered in pollen reminds me of Andrena bicolor which has a very tawny thorax. My first pics of it were on 22nd April inside a tulip species and it's legs looked huge with all the pollen, compared to it's tiny size. It's abdomen does look quite black but has some coloured hairs which aren't always noticeable from some angles. I have pics in my Image Library, it's much smaller than Anthophora plumipes which I also have and that doesn't have orange near the head.





Janet

[eucera]

This will be a mining bee of some sort. In central Scotland, species that nest in aggregtaions are none too numerous. We COULD be talking about some species of Andrena, or may be even Colletes succinctus. However, the description suggests that Halictus rubicundus is also a possibility, and that certainly nests in sizeable aggregations in urban/sub urban surroundings, and Stirling is well within its range. However, this is complete speculation, and there is no real hope of being sure without at least a photograph.

I was also interested in you statement "They've already discovered one type of bee in the gardens they had thought was extinct in Britain, this could be it or another species". I wonder who "They" are, and what the species is? As far as I know, no species that is "Extinct in Britain" has turned up in Scotland - in fact, I know of no bee that has ever been declared Extinct in UK ever re-appearing. I am keen to get chapter & verse on this (as you can see)!

Best wishes, Stuart

[oxycera]

[QUOTEI know of no bee that has ever been declared Extinct in UK ever re-appearing. [/quote]


Dufourea minuta?

[eucera]

Dufourea minuta is definitely in the "Almost" class.... but it was never actually declared extinct. RDB1 in the Red Data Book and also in Falk's 1991review (treated as a Red List although, strictly speaking, it wasn't one). The record from Essex a couple of "summers" back was the first since Philip Harwood caught one on Holt Heath (Dorset) on 14 August 1956

A near run thing though (same for both Dufourea spp). It will be interesting assigning status to D. halictula when I am doing the updated bee, wasp and ant Red List.