Size varies from small (e.g. [1], Andrena scotica is one of the earlier bees to appear and the flight period is mid March to late June with numbers peaking late April and May. www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Andrena, Flickr logo. These were the Conopid Myopa buccata, the bee fly Bombylius major and anthomyiid Leucophora personata. Males always appear before females. Many further species occur on the near continent. They possess very small pollen baskets or flocci on their hind legs and the long, pale scopae are dark on distally and curly proximally. [2] In a study on Öland three species of flies were observed at or near the nest entrances of A. scotica or around flowers upon which the female bees were foraging. trimmerana. There is an apical tooth on the mandibles but the cheeks normally lack a spine. In a few species such as A. bucephala and ferox many females can use a common nest entrance, giving the impression of social behavior. Bordeaux falls outside of the known range of A. scotica and the specimen was taken too late in the summer for that species. [1], Females of the parasitic Strepsipteran Stylops melittae specialise in parasitising mining bees producing large numbers of larvae on flowers. With over 1,300 species, it is one of the largest of all bee genera. [1] Northern populations of A. scotica tend to be more extensively dark-haired than the southern populations. [10] It is thought that the offspring complete their development in their brood cells in which they overwinter as fully developed adults before emerging in the following spring through nest entrance. [3] As well as being smaller than the females they are also comparatively slender. Some have a dense fur (e.g. Information and images for the genus globally are furnished by Discover Life: Nesting typically occurs in light soils either solitarily or in aggregations, the latter sometimes involving thousand of densely-arranged nests. They usually swarm or lek, sometimes in very specific places such as around blossoming shrubs or by flying up tree trunks and telegraph poles. the mini-miners of the subgenus Micrandrena) to rather larger than a Honey Bee (A. hattorfiana). It likes light woodland or dry grassland, with sandy soil for its nests. They mate, and the females then seek sites for their nest burrows, where they construct small cells containing a ball of pollen mixed with nectar, upon which an egg is laid, before each cell is sealed. In addition, Myopa testacea, was also recorded as a parasite from sampled A. scotica. Information on the European Andrena species can be obtained from Atlas Hymenoptera: [5], Andrena scotica is endemic to Europe where it is found in Ireland east to Poland and the Czech Republic, south to Italy and north to southern Scandinavia[6][7] and Finland. The smaller males have a wholly black abdomen too. Body length commonly ranges between 8 and 17 mm with males smaller and more slender than females, which often show a black triangle (the "pygidial plate") at the abdominal apex. It occurs in western Europe and is one of the most frequently encountered mining bees found in Great Britain, where it had been previously misidentified as Andrena carantonica. It occurs in western Europe and is one of the most frequently encountered mining bees found in Great Britain, where it had been previously misidentified as Andrena carantonica. [4] A. scotica measures between 10 and 14mm in length. Many of the Andrena are oligolectic, meaning they forage on only one—or several closely related—species of plant. www.wildebijen.nl/zandbijen.html Andrena cineraria; Andrena fulva; Anthophora plumipes; Osmia bicornis (red mason-bee) Andrena vaga mapping project; Bombus hypnorum monitoring; Vespa crabro - Hornet; Anthidium manicatum survey; Colletes hederae mapping project; Winter bumblebees project; About BWARS. Description and notes Andrena praecox and A. apicata comprise a closely related species-pair, individuals of which can be difficult to identify (especially with respect to females). [9] These bees often forage on spring-blossoming shrubs and trees as well as a variety of low-growing flowers. [11], "Andrena Carantonica: The Chocolate Mining Bee", "Taxonomy for Andrena (Hoplandrena) scotica (Perkins, 1917) (Chocolate Mining-Bee)". 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