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.

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. This species can be confused with C. elongata Lepeletier. It has a black gaster with pale bands and, in the female, elongated sixth tergite and fifth sternite.

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 distinctive group of largely black bees, with the females of most species having a pointed tip to the gaster. This species flies low over the ground looking for its host’s nests, often in a purposeful manner.