Buffish Mining Bee vs Yellow Ophion

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Buffish Mining Bee Yellow Ophion
Scientific Name Andrena nigroaenea Ophion obscuratus
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Andrenidae Ichneumonidae
Size 12-15 mm 14-18 mm
Habitat Underground Farmland
Diet Fruit Feeders Parasitoids
Regions Europe, North Africa Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Buffish Mining Bee

A large mining bee with a dark metallic body and buff-brown thoracic fur. It is one of the main hosts of the early-flying nomada cuckoo bees.

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Did You Know?

It sometimes nests in dense aggregations of hundreds of burrows per square meter, creating a moonscape appearance on lawns.

Yellow Ophion

A laterally flattened, tawny-yellow parasitoid wasp active at dusk and after dark. Its larvae develop as internal parasitoids of noctuid moth caterpillars.

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Did You Know?

Its laterally compressed abdomen is thought to help it slip between grass blades when searching for host caterpillars.