Tawny mining bee
The tawny mining bee is a fluffy spring bee. The girls have bright fox-red fur on their backs and black fur on their heads. They dig little tunnels in the ground, which is why they are called mining bees.
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Fun facts
Its nest is a straight tunnel in the ground, 20 to 30 centimetres deep, with little rooms off to the side.
Sometimes more than a hundred mothers dig nests close together, but each one has her own nest.
The mother puts a ball of nectar and pollen in each room and lays one egg on it.
It was thought to be gone from Ireland, but in 2012 people found it there again.
The boys have long white hairs on their faces, like a little moustache.
Most asked questions about Tawny mining bee
?What are the little holes with soil around them in my lawn?
In spring they can be the nests of tawny mining bees. They are harmless and leave again after a few weeks.
?When can you see the tawny mining bee?
From March to May.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Andrena fulva
- Group
- Bees and bumblebees
- Family
- Andrenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Andrenidae
- Lives on
- Europe
Where the facts come from
- Tawny mining bee (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Pauln. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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