A Hairy-footed Flower Bee warming up in the early morning sunshine!
The Hairy-footed Flower Bee is a distinctive, bumblebee-sized, native spring flying solitary bee. Males are gingery in colour with a yellow moustache and characteristic “hairy feet”, from which they get their name - Pluma is the Latin for feather, and pes means foot! Females have a black fuzzy body with orange hind legs and could easily be mistaken for a bumblebee.
The Hairy-footed Flower Bee feeds on feeds solely on pollen and nectar having a preference for species such as Lungwort, Comfrey, Dead Neetle, Green Alkanet & Primrose.
Female Hairy-footed Flower Bees each construct a nest with a series of brood cells. They provisions each cell with pollen and nectar, lay an egg on this food supply and seal the brood cell. The egg will later hatch and the larvae will feast on the supply left by their mother. The larvae will moult as it grows, then spin a cocoon to pupate. The adult bee will later emerge from the cocoon and break out of the sealed nest.
Hairy-footed Flower Bee males emerge in late February/early march. The females emerge roughly two weeks later and can be seen to late may/early June.
Tags: Insect Invertebrate Ipswich Spring Suffolk March 2024 Anthophora plumipes Leaf Litter Hairy-footed Flower Bee Christchurch Park Solitary Bee
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I love the way that this Horse Chestnut bud looks as if it is opening its arms to welcome the spring!
Tags: Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum Bud Sticky Bud Welcoming Spring! Bark Twig March 2024 Ipswich Suffolk Christchurch Park Tree Tree Trunk Leaves Bud Scales
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First shieldbug of the year in our garden! A Common Green Shieldbug in winter livery!
The Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) is a large shieldbug with a dark wing membrane and reddish antenna. Adults are bright green in the spring and summer, but finely punctured with dark marks. They become a darker bronze-brown prior to winter hibernation. This shieldbug is common and widespread throughout Britain and Ireland in numerous habitats, as far north as southern Scotland.
Tags: Palomena prasina Common Green Shieldbug Pentatomidae Leaf Garden Ipswich Suffolk March 2024 Green Alkanet Pentaglottis sempervirens Hibernation Livery
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It's lovely to see all the bugs appearing now that spring is here!
Tags: Ladybugs! Ladybirds Euphorbia Garden Spring March 2024 Ipswich Suffolk Flowers
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A small section of a very old wall tie for the Macro Mondays challenge "Iron"!
Tags: Any Old Iron! Iron Macro Mondays Wall Tie Ipswich Suffolk
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