Surely I can't be alone in thinking that this solitary bee is incredibly cute? This male had been returning to a favoured spot on some fresh winter honeysuckle leaves for a few days, but had been too fast for me to photograph. I must have caught him here when it was a little cooler as he didn't budge when I approached with my camera this time.
There are so many solitary bee species to learn, I had to put this one out on Twitter for help, and, luckily, Steven Falk, author of the Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, replied with a species suggestion. This is Andrena haemorrhoa, or the early mining bee. The males and females are quite distinctive, with the males being smaller and duller in colour than the females. As this one shows, they have buff coloured hairs on the head and sides of the thorax. It was this, and the long antennae protruding from that fluff that caught my eye.
These bees have a long flight season, from March to June, and are widespread, so I hope I will encounter more of them in our little patch. Maybe, if some females turn up, they may even nest here.
References:
Falk, S. (2015) Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
https://www.bwars.com/bee/andrenidae/andrena-haemorrhoa accessed 03/04/2020
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