On 03/05/2012 21:07, Christina Websell wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 03/05/2012 17:11, Christina Websell wrote:
wrote in message
...

can anyone identify this bee, has an all black bottom
I have all of a sudden 50+ of these in the garden but cant see where
they
are coming from.
and NO i dont wish to exterminate them, just curious.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...o/9e4c687b.jpg


It's a leafcutter bee.

Tina


Hi
From the photos on the web they all have a yellow underneath which my ones
dont
they seem more interested in an old wall, cant find any leaves that have
been eaten as yet.

Megachile species (the leafcutter bees) hold their wings out from their
bodies, like your pic shows. Most other solitary bees do not. Leafcutters
will nest in walls as well as underground - they just need a hole.
It's my best guess. It is not a honeybee.
The other possibility is wool carder bee, although they are not very common.
See if that matches better than my suggestion.


Hi
Thanks for your help i have spent quite a few hours now looking at Bee
photos on the web
the nearest i have come up with, and i think this is in fact what they are
Solitary bee Andrena scotica
http://www.insectpix.net/Andrena_scotica.htm

wish now i had taken a better photo as they have now all vanished.
just hope they pollinated my fruit trees first