HYMENOPTERA > APOCRITA | Aculeata > APOIDEA > Megachilidae

The females of this species are very distinctive with their black head and thorax and bright-red haired abdomen, and are very different to the brownish or greyish slimer males. Osmia bicolor is primarily a southern species most likely to be found in calcareous habitats such as chalk and limestone grasslands, open rides and clearings of calcareous woods, quarries, and suitable coastal dunes. Males are some of the first bees to appear in spring, usually in early March. Females appear a week or two later and persist until June or early July. They visit a wide variety of spring-blossoming shrubs, as well as low-growing flowers including dandelions, violets and bird’s-foot trefoils. Nesting occurs in empty snail shells usually in grassy areas where they can be concealed.