Nomad Bees - June 2015

At the foot of the east wall of the Visitor Centre there is a patch of exposed earth pocked with small holes that are the entrances to the nests of Mining Bees.

Three species of Mining Bee have been identified there; Clarke's Mining Bee (Andrena clarkella), the Buffish Mining Bee (Andrena nigroaenea) both on the ground and a Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva) visiting the adjacent ivy. Each species of Mining Bee has an associated cleptoparasitic Nomad Bee.

The predominant species of Mining Bee at the visitor centre is Andrena nigroaenea, and its cleptoparasite is Gooden's Nomad Bee (Nomada goodeniana). Gooden's Nomad Bee is a medium sized almost hairless bee with yellow bands and spots that looks like a wasp. Females enter the open cell of the host bee and insert their eggs into the wall of the cell. The first instar larva kills the egg or young larva of the host bee using a pair of sickle-shaped jaws. It then eats the host bee's provisions.