Puzzling Bee

[Lucy T]

Is this a bee? I thought it might be a cuckoo bee, but perhaps it's not really a bee at all! Any ideas?!

Thanks!

[Jason Green]

Afternoon Lucy,

It looks a lot like Eucera species to me.

Take care,

Jason

[Dogghound]

Not really my field but Eucera longicornis (or closely related) males have long antenna like this.

[tristanba]

yes - surely Eucera longicornis - where and when did you see this? A rare and much declined species in Britain

[Lucy T]

Thank you both very much for the ID!

[Lucy T]

Thanks again all for solving the mystery.

I photographed it in June last year, by the coast in the Roseland, Cornwall (at roughly TR2 5EX). Should I tell anyone about this? I had no idea it was a relatively rare insect!

It was buzzing about with hordes of other insects, all taking advantage of the abundant flowers, not far off the path at coastal point - I took lots of pictures of what I found but only have one pic of this bee. It's great to know what it actually is!

[tristanba]

I'm sure Stuart R from BWARS will be along to get the details of this record - coincidentally his username is eucera

For more details on recording bees see BWARS Home Page

[eucera]

Eucera it is! Could you pm me the full who, where and when? All records of Eucera are mosyt welcome