This bee is a very close relative of the scarcer Hylaeus incongruus Förster (formerly misidentified in Britain as H. gibbus (Saunders)) and the females of the two species can be difficult to distinguish apart, although the extent of the yellow facial markings offers the best character for identification. In southern England both species are occasionally found flying together.

First recorded from the British mainland in Dorset in 2006. A second record was made in SE London in 2016. It is also present on the Channel Islands.

Reference: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315797787_Small-Headed_Resin_Bee_Heriades_rubicola_new_to_Britain_Hymenoptera_Megachilidae

In Britain, Hoplitis claviventris was formerly misidentified as H. leucomelana (Yarrow, 1970).

Else & Edwards (in press) will cover this species. It has also been covered in numerous other works, including Banaszak & Romasenko (2001) and Amiet et al. (2004).

The female can be identified by a combination of the finely striated clypeus, the wedge shaped paraocular (facial) markings and absence of white hair fringes on first gastral tergite. The male has, amongst British species, uniquely shaped paraocular markings, their apices being turned inwards around and above the antennal sockets.

Dufourea minuta is the senior synonym of D. vulgaris Schenck, 1861 (Baker, 1994).

Dufourea is a genus closely related to Rophites, the two sometimes distinguishable only with difficulty. The taxonomy of the two British species of Dufourea was very confused, the present species being referred to as D. minuta in some older literature.

Originally described as a subspecies of the widely distributed C. succinctus.

There are currently no published keys to Coelioxys. George Else has a key in preparation. A photographic guide to the genus is available for download from the BWARS website. Distribution

There are currently no published keys to Coelioxys. George Else has a key in preparation. A photographic guide to the genus is available for download from the BWARS website.

A photographic test key by Rowson and Pavett is available via the BWARS website. Else and Edwards cover Coelioxys in their new book Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles, which is due for publication soon.