Best time to see: mid Mar to late May

Key facts

Solitary bees that build nests in the ground, in sunny banks and cliffs, roadside verges and close-cut lawns

Emerge in spring and early summer, often in large numbers, then build and provision new nests for the next generation

Common across much of southern England, including in gardens

Recognition

Females build and provision the nest and can be recognised by the pollen brushes on their hind legs

The male lacks a pollen brush and is usually slimmer and less hairy than the female

Parasitised by other bees and flies that attempt to lay eggs in or steal from their nests

Lifecycle

In summer the female constructs a series of chambers in each nest, laying an egg and supplying nectar and pollen as food

The eggs or larvae over-winter and develop within the nest the following spring, digging their way out

Females sometimes emerge the same summer to nest, dying out in autumn (bivoltine)