Yellow-legged Mining Bee vs Cuckoo Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Yellow-legged Mining Bee Cuckoo Bee
Scientific Name Andrena flavipes Nomada flava
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Andrenidae Apidae
Size 10-13 mm 8-11 mm
Habitat Grasslands Meadows
Diet Pollen Feeders Pollen Feeders
Regions Europe, Asia, North Africa Europe, Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

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.

Cuckoo Bee

A slender, wasp-like bee with yellow and black banding that lacks pollen-collecting structures. It is a brood parasite that sneaks into the nests of mining bees to lay its eggs.

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Did You Know?

Like cuckoo birds, these bees lay their eggs in the nests of other bee species, where the cuckoo larva kills the host egg and consumes all the stored food.