Nomada various views

[bugbotherer]

I've posted an unidentified hymenopteran which I think is a Nomada bee. Taking advice from eucera I've got the same beast from various angles to see if some of the id characterisitcs can be seen ..





And for speckled wood it was from the salt line

[eucera]

Hmmmm... Interesting. I am assuming these were taken in Cheshire and in mid-May (Based on the flowering Crataegus) in pics 1 & 2.

Well.... I agree that these are pics of Nomada.... but 2 different species I think. The first one has a black thorax with 2 yellow spots on the scutellum and reddish tegulae and (I think) an interrupted yellow band on the first tergite (very difficult to be certain as this is largely obscured by the wings). My feeling is that this is Nomada marshamella.

The 3rd and 4th pics are of a different species with reddish stripes on the thorax and a red episternum, black (or dark red) scutellar tubercles and a lot of red on the sternites. It is clearly a female and I suspect it is Nomada flava.

Neither of these attempts are delivered with 100% confidence though (the latter could be N. panzeri which is very difficult to separate from N. flava). As always, the only way to be sure is to check the specimens out under a microscope!

[bugbotherer]

Thanks for the pointer eucera. Yes mid may is about right, and there are two. I think they're marvelous beasts. I've got some other id'ed and this will certainly add to the library of potentials