Nomad Bee for ID pleas

[potatoe-mouse]

I spotted this lovely nomada bee in the garden on the 20th of May. I was wondering if someone could please tell me which type? (Not the clearest photos I know.) I was wondering if it might be ruficornis?

[eucera]

I suppose it could be BUT it is completely impossible to tell from these pics

[potatoe-mouse]

Well thanks for looking anyway. I supose I should really be asking if you have tips on what identifying features to look for when I next spot a Nomad bee? They mostly look perplexing similar to the untrained eye...

[htcdude]

I don't know the differences, but apparently there are around 30 species of Nomad Bee in the UK and all are very similar

Nige

[Matt Smith]

The differences used to separate most Nomada species or confirm an Id are usually small structural characters one is only able to under a microscope (eg "a spine on the rear of the front coxa" or "the comb spines on the edge ofthe hind tibia curved"). Unlike moths or butterflies, most of them cannot be reliably identified from "whole animal" pics.

[eucera]

The coloration is helpful but we need to look at things like comb-spines on the hind tibiae, spines on the coxae etc... small stuff!

As Matt Smith pointed out a few days back. With bees, it is often pretty straightforward to get to genus. Beyond that it is often impossible without looking at the specimen under a microscope