HYMENOPTERA > APOCRITA | Aculeata > APOIDEA > Megachilidae

Although this species can be found in a variety of habitats, it will favour places where there are suitable nesting cavities, whether in burrows in the ground or under deadwood, or in structures such as buildings where there are crumbling mortar joints or gaps around doors and windows or under roof tiles. As such, it's a relatively familiar and common species in gardens across much of central and southern Britain, particularly those with a bee-hotel and plenty of food plants. The females are particularly distinctive, being quite robust medium-sized bees with a black head, brown-haired thorax and with a bright orange-red pile on the abdomen. The males are not dissimilar, but are typically slimmer and smaller with whitish-haired faces and longer antennae. They may be seen as early as late March with the females usually appearing a couple of weeks later and persisting through to the end of June or early July.