Andrena floricola Eversmann, 1852
Description and notes
More pictures and notes can be found on Steven Falk's Flickr site.
Distribution
On 11 May 1939, E Ernest collected a female of this bee at Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire (Yarrow & Guichard, 1941). This remains the only record for the bee in Britain. The specimen is in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London.
This bee occurs throughout much of central and southern Europe (Dylewska, 1987) but is uncommon. There are apparently no records from Fennoscandia, Spain, Italy and the Mediterranean islands (Gusenleitner & Schwarz, 2002).
Status (in Britain only)
The species is listed as Endangered (RDB1) in the British Red Data Book (Shirt, 1987) and Falk (1991). However, serious consideration should be given as to whether this bee has ever been a resident in Britain.
Habitat
Not known.
Flight period
Bivoltine; the spring brood flies in April and May, the summer one in July and August.
Pollen collected
Polylectic with a strong preference for Brassicaceae and Apiaceae (Westrich, 1989).
Nesting biology
In mainland Europe the species nests solitarily in sandy and loamy soils (Kocourek, 1966; Dylewska, 1987).
Flowers visited
In mainland Europe the bee visits the following species. Spring brood: shepherd’s-purse, hoary cress, rape, turnip, charlock, wild radish, a cinquefoil, a speedwell, a dandelion. Summer brood: hoary alison, shepherd’s-purse, rape, turnip, charlock, wild radish, a cinquefoil, wild carrot, sheep’s-bit. The British record was probably collected from a willow flower (Yarrow & Guichard, 1941).
Parasites
No data available.
Year profile last updated
2016