Yellow-legged Mining Bee vs Black Horntail

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Yellow-legged Mining Bee Black Horntail
Scientific Name Andrena flavipes Xeris spectrum
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Andrenidae Siricidae
Size 10-13 mm 15–32 mm
Habitat Grasslands Forests
Diet Pollen Feeders Wood Feeders
Regions Europe, Asia, North Africa Europe, North America, Asia
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Yellow-legged Mining Bee

A widespread mining bee with distinctive yellow-orange pollen brushes on its hind legs. It produces two generations per year in warmer parts of its range.

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Did You Know?

Spring and summer generations can look so different in body size and hair color that they were once thought to be separate species.

Black Horntail

A slender black horntail wasp that breeds in dead conifer wood across the Northern Hemisphere. It is frequently found in fire-damaged forests.

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Did You Know?

It is typically one of the first wood-boring insects to colonize trees killed by forest fires.