Day 11: Hairy-footed flower bee

I was so excited to find this gorgeous female hairy-footed flower bee in the garden this morning! After a bit of chasing from one patch of pulmonaria to another, I managed to get a few shots of her before she buzzed away again. I definitely need to practice capturing bees in flight.

This is the first record of a hairy-footed flower bee I have for our garden, so I had to confirm she really was one (thank you Kate Bradbury for replying on Twitter!).

Female hairy-footed flower bees are completely black, but have striking amber bristles on their back legs. This is what caught my eye when I first spotted her. She moved so quickly, she was hard to keep track of, but in her few moments of stillness, I was transfixed, watching her extend and retract her very long proboscis when nearing and leaving flowers.

These bees may resemble bumblebees, but are in fact one of the many solitary bee species we have in the UK. Hairy-footed flower bees are one of the first of this group to emerge in spring, and will be busy pollinating plants like pulmonaria (pictured), primroses, red dead-nettle and comfrey. Definitely something to keep an eye out for in the garden and a reason to leave that patch of dead-nettles in the lawn alone.

References:
https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/hairy-footed-flower-bee-anthophora-plumipes/ accessed 02/04/2020
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/hairy-footed-flower-bee accessed 02/04/2020