Eddie The Bugman
Andrena clarkella (♀)
Whilst hunting Tiger Beetles the other day at Newstead I found a sandy patch of ground with lots of Andrena clarkella activity. These wonderful little Bees were both emerging from the ground and were also burrowing into the ground. Always amazed how the Bees know where their burrow is when they return after gathering pollen. The individuals in the main image are females, Both the images above are focus stacks using my 100mm macro lens.
The other interesting thing to note were the number of Nomada leucophthalma flying about. As soon as the sun came out they would appear. Nomada leucophthalma is a cleptoparasite on Andrena clarkella. A cleptoparasite in the case of the Cuckoo Bee typically steals food from a host Bee larvae, in the case of Nomada leucophthalma they burrow down to find the hosts larvae pollen ball, they then lay their eggs. When the Cuckoo Bee larva hatches it consumes the host larva's pollen ball, and if the female cleptoparasite has not already done so, kills and eats the host larva.
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Andrena clarkella (♀)
Whilst hunting Tiger Beetles the other day at Newstead I found a sandy patch of ground with lots of Andrena clarkella activity. These wonderful little Bees were both emerging from the ground and were also burrowing into the ground. Always amazed how the Bees know where their burrow is when they return after gathering pollen. The individuals in the main image are females, Both the images above are focus stacks using my 100mm macro lens.
The other interesting thing to note were the number of Nomada leucophthalma flying about. As soon as the sun came out they would appear. Nomada leucophthalma is a cleptoparasite on Andrena clarkella. A cleptoparasite in the case of the Cuckoo Bee typically steals food from a host Bee larvae, in the case of Nomada leucophthalma they burrow down to find the hosts larvae pollen ball, they then lay their eggs. When the Cuckoo Bee larva hatches it consumes the host larva's pollen ball, and if the female cleptoparasite has not already done so, kills and eats the host larva.
SEE COMMENTS FOR EXTRA IMAGES
VIEW LARGE