The female of this mining bee is one of the few Andrena species which can be instantly recognised in the field as it is clothed dorsally with long, dense, bright reddish hairs. For this reason it is frequently observed by householders when it excavates its nesting burrows in garden lawns. The male, however, is more sombre, being clad in sparser reddish-brown hairs, thereby resembling the males of many other species in the genus.

A small, ground nesting red and black solitary wasp. Identification keys are given in Richards (1980) (as Psen lutarius), Lomholdt (1984) (as Mimesa lutaria) and Yeo & Corbet (1995) (as Psen lutarius).

The first British specimen of this wasp was collected in 1950, although it was not correctly determined as such until 1975. The females comprise the largest specimens of this genus in Britain.

This species is probably extinct in Britain, with all records from more than 100 years ago.

This species was previously placed in the genus Omalus. Identification keys and general biology are given in Spooner (1954), Danks (1971), Morgan (1984) and Kunz (1994).

An all-black species with bifasciate wings. Of the three British species of Dipogon, variegatus is easily separated in the female by its strongly-transverse propodeal sculpture. In the male these transverse wrinkles are present but less prominent; the subgenital plate is distinctive with long hairs ventrally.

Identification keys and general biology are given in Spooner (1954), Morgan (1984), Falk (1991) and Kunz (1994).

Kimsey and Bohart (1990) treat O. puncticollis as a variety of O. aeneus (Fabricius), as do some other authorities. The specimens from Yorkshire, named as O. aeneus, could therefore be considered as showing characters intermediate between O. aeneus and O. puncticollis. Similarly, Shaw's (1998) Scottish specimen named O. puncticollis, could also be an intermediate form. However, specimens recorded from south of… Read more

A rather variable species across its range, being given various infraspecific names; the British form has been referred to as subspecies proximus (Shuckard) (Richards 1980) or propinquus (Shuckard) (Lomholdt 1975-76).

This species is very similar to C. elongatulus in appearance and habits. It was formally added to the British list by Packer (1981) from specimens collected in Kent during 1978. The species has also been located in slightly older collections from Kent.