A wet bee?

[Dillybythesea]

It's a real beginner's question I know, but while I was watching this, which I took to be a wet bee, an Anthophora plumipes female, trying to get dry, it was moving its head such that the head came a distance away from the thorax, which I'd not seen before and I wondered if it really IS a bee, or some kind of mimic, or can all bees do that? It flew off looking fine.

[Naturenutz]

I first read that as ,the head came away . Sorry cant answer the question dilly.

[Dillybythesea]

Eeeks. Didn't mean it to sound like that!
Just that this space appeared - pale green neck connection between the two.
ATB, Naturenutz

[Jason Green]

Evening shdilly (did it go like that? Can't remember... ),

I'm not 100% certain, but the general colouration suggests an extremely wet Bombus species - yes, a bog-standard Bee!

The neck thing is entirely normal - but very strange when seen like this, conceded! I think it just shows more here because the hairs all over it are soaked and stuck together as opposed to the regular 'fluffiness' that would normally obscure it.

Take care,

Jason

[Matt Smith]

It is, as suggested, a wet female Anthophora plumipes - we do not have any bumblebee species which are all black with yellow pollen baskets on the hind legs. The "neck" is normal, bees have fairly flexible necks but the hairs hide them well.