Tawny Mining Bee

Andrena fulva

11-14mm

April to May

A striking solitary bee that can appear very bright when the sunlight catches the thick abdominal hair. Females make small volcano-like mounds in short grass including garden lawns, where they stock a burrow with pollen for their larvae.

 Female basking (blurry photo- taken from a distance!)

 Female emerging from nest burrow in sandy woodland path. 

The nest entrance is often higher in a cone shape due to the excavated soil. 

Widespread and common throughout much of England and Wales, appearing for only a few weeks in the spring, but absent from most of Scotland.

Females are much more vivid than males due to the dense hair, which also makes them appear more bulky. Males are duller – only being tawny on the thorax - with white hair on the face and long slender jaws. Older females will appear paler, sometimes fading to dull yellow.

Female comparison with smaller, duller male. 

Male specimen profile view showing the characteristic tooth on the underside of each mandible. 

Females bare a sting, but as with most mining bees it is not strong enough to pierce human skin.

Both sexes feed at various tree blossom, bramble blossom and low growing flowers such as dandelions and bluebells. Both sexes can often be seen basking on stones or vegetation like many other mining bees. 

Male feeding at dandelion flower.