Solitary Bees and others

Last weekend was spent at Rye Harbour attending a solitary bee course given by the author of 'The Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland' Steven Falk.  Solitary bees are a diverse and difficult group of insects to identify and though we spent some time using dichotomous keys and microscopes I still have great difficulty even getting to the correct genus.

Dasypoda hirtipes - the Pantaloon Bee

I can however fairly confidently identify the female of one particular species - Dasypoda hirtipes - known to its friends as the pantaloon bee and it is fairly obvious how it got its name.  This particular photo was taken the previous week when I was walking a bee transect at Rye Harbour looking for bumblebees, but this striking specimen caught my eye.

Anthophora bimaculata - Green-eyed Flower Bee

I also know now how to identify three species of Anthophora, or the flower bees.  One species is very common and a regular visitor to our garden - Anthophora plumipes - known as the hairy-footed flower bee.  The female is large, all black, and can be mistaken for a bumblebee.  Sadly the male is less distinctive but he is the one with the hairy feet.

The other two species we found this weekend are Anthophora bimaculata - the green-eyed flower bee - again, it is easy to see how it gets its name, and , a larger and quite squat bee - the four-banded flower bee, Anthophora quadrimaculata, though I think its scientific name derives from dark spots on the male's face.

Anthophora quadrimaculata - the Four-banded Flower Bee

Wasp Spider - Argiope bruennichi

The weekend was not confined to solitary bees and we took every opportunity to immerse ourselves in whatever aspect of nature presented itself.  Here is an example of the several wasp spiders that we found on a grassy patch.