Identifying a bee?

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Identifying a bee?

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marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 08 2:56 pm Post subject: Identifying a bee?

I saw an unusual-looking bee in a friend's garden this morning - at least I think it was a bee. It was about the size of a honey-bee (ish), but had a round-ish furry gingery-coloured body, quite long narrow wings which seemed to stick out a bit like a dragonfly's wings and a long sticky-out proboscis. On reflection that sounds a bit moth-ish too. It was foraging in a bee-like manner around various plants at ground level and too small and skittish to photograph with my weedy camera.

I've tried googling to identify it, but can't find any very helpful sites. Any suggestions?

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 08 3:02 pm Post subject:
This is quite good for the solitary bee's https://www.insectpix.net/solitary_bees_gallery.htm I've just realised I saw a Tawny Mining Bee near our beehive the other day - I wondered what it was

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 08 3:16 pm Post subject:
Thanks Jo, Tawny Mining Bee looks most likely, but I'm not sure... It's difficult to relate a still image to a briefly glimpsed flying insect isn't it?

KatP

Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 79
Location: Aberdeenshire

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 08 4:01 pm Post subject:
Love the Hairy Footed Flower Bee! Fantastic name. Must have been those we saw some of at my parents a couple of years ago, wondered what they were, had guessed some sort of hover fly because of the proboscis, but glad it was a bee after all!

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 08 9:28 pm Post subject:
Might have been a bee fly rather than a bee, they don't put their wings back like bees do.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6634
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 08 2:34 am Post subject:
How big were the wings? Could it have been a hummingbird moth? Nah, they're bigger than what you described. But they do fly from flower to flower like bumblebees....

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 08 6:38 am Post subject:
I think bee fly is the answer - thanks Woodburner! https://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/insects/10101-bee-fly.html. Hummingbird hawk moths are gorgeous - a couple of years ago I saw thousands of them in a garden full of lavender .

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