Margined Colletes vs Hornfaced Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Margined Colletes Hornfaced Bee
Scientific Name Colletes marginatus Osmia cornifrons
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Colletidae Megachilidae
Size 8-10 mm 10-14 mm
Habitat Beaches & Coastal Orchards
Diet Nectar Feeders Fruit Feeders
Regions Europe East Asia, North America
Conservation Near Threatened Least Concern

Margined Colletes

A small, pale plasterer bee found in sandy coastal habitats across Europe. It nests in loose sand and forages on wild mignonette and sea holly.

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Did You Know?

Its dependence on both sandy nesting substrate and specialized coastal food plants makes it doubly vulnerable to habitat loss.

Hornfaced Bee

A robust reddish-brown solitary bee native to Japan, widely used for fruit tree pollination. Females have small horn-like projections on the face.

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Did You Know?

In Japan it has been commercially managed for apple pollination since the 1940s.