Females are easily identified by their reddish antennae with several of the intermediate segments being black. This banded appearance is visible in the field. It is also the only Nomada species which, in the British Isles, has (in both sexes) a combination of bidentate mandibles and a black labrum; the gaster is mainly reddish.

A small Nomada immediately distinguished from all other British species by the raised, flat area between the antennal insertions (in other species this area is in the form of a longitudinal carina).

One of the larger British halictine bees with a body length in the region of 10mm. In common with most other bees of the genus Sphecodes it is black and red in general appearance. The red tends to be rather darker than in many other species and the wings are strongly infused with black, giving a very distinctive smoky appearance.

Small bees encountered in the flowers of tormentils (Potentilla spp.) on heaths and moorland should be examined closely as they may include this interesting species (the only British Andrena female to have a tridentate mandible, rather than a uni- or bidentate one). The male is one of a small number of British species to have a largely yellow clypeus.

A member of the Nomada ruficornis-group, a very large assemblage of about 382 species worldwide (Alexander & Schwarz 1994), of which 17 occur in the British Isles, and another species in the Channel Islands. N. signata is a very close relative of both N. flava and N. panzeri but, in the field, the female N. signata can be distinguished by a combination of uninterrupted transverse yellow bands on gastral tergites 2-4 and a pair of prominent, irregular yellow markings on the propodeum. The male requires closer examination as the band character… Read more

A small Nomada in which the gaster is mainly red with a pair of lateral yellow spots on gastral tergites 2 and 3; scutellum red.

A very distinctive bumblebee with extensive red marking over at least the last half of the abdomen, and a very bright yellow band on the front of the thorax. It is closely associated with higher altitude habitat and there may be some association with highland areas which support bilberries (Vaccinium spp.) It has also been recorded at sea-level in northern England and Scotland.

A very distinctive bumblebee with extensive red marking over the last quarter of the abdomen and no yellow bands on the thorax of the females; males have the red tail and (usually) extensive yellow markings on the face and thorax. Confusion with the much rarer B. ruderarius is possible as the basic colour pattern is similar. However, the abdomen of the female B. ruderarius is approximately circular in outline, whilst that of B. lapidarius is distinctly elongate. The corbicular hairs of female B. lapidarius… Read more