T. impurum is a native species of western, central and southern Europe, similar in general appearance and habits to T. caespitum, except for being lighter in colour on average, and less thermophilic in its choice of nesting sites.
So far, only one verified record of T. impurum exists in the BWARS recording area, at Port Soif Common on the northwest coast of Guernsey, where a single nest was found in 2013 under a stone at the broken shoreline edge of old dune grassland, (Attewell & Wagner, 2019). Seifert (2018) stated that the specimens belonged to the eastern clade of the species, extending to the Benelux countries, central Europe, the Balkans and Asia Minor, whereas Attewell & Wagner (2019) showed that they quite definitely belong to the western clade of Iberia and western France. Close observation may detect the species elsewhere in the Channel Islands and potentially also in mainland Britain, especially the southwestern coastal areas.
The species has as yet no conservation status.
The Guernsey site is a broken rocky shoreline where shallow stones sit on the edge of old dune grassland, with full sun exposure. It is therefore quite xerothermous. Seifert (2018) states that it is a less thermophilic species than T. caespitum, and, in central Europe at least, prefers loamier soils than caespitum.
Wagner et al. (2017) includes dichotomous keys and discriminants for determination, albeit requiring very precise measurements.
Alates are found in the nests from late June to early November, flying from the end of July to the beginning of October, in the afternoon, on average seven weeks later than T. caespitum (Seifert, 2018).
2024
A new key to Nomad bees by Steven Falk including species accounts and photographs has been added to the .
Else & Edwards Understandings Reference
A new, downloadable, draft key to the Pompilidae (spider-hunting wasps) plus a link to the Pompilidae section of Steven Falk's Flickr site has been added to the Identification guides page
Andrena similis Smith,1849, Andrena croceiventris Morawitz, 1871, Andrena rufo-hispida Dours, 1872, Andrena stefanii Pérez, 1895, Andrena ocreata cyprisina Warncke, 1975, Andrena (Taeniandrena) similis caraimica Osytshnjuk, 1994
This mining bee has been renamed from Andrena similis Smith,1849, it is a close relative of Andrena wilkella (Kirby), with which it could easily be confused. However, it differs from that species in having the postscutellum, and the lateral and posterior margins of the scutellum clad with very dense, short, erect, reddish-orange hairs. In addition the posterior hair-band of the third gastral tergite is very widely broken. In A.
The distribution extends from southern England north to Yorkshire and in Wales and again in northern Scotland. However, there are apparently no records from much of northern England and southern Scotland. Note the concentration of records in the vicinity of the Cromarty and Dornoch Firths. The species is not known from Ireland or the Channel Islands.
The species is widely distributed in the western Palaearctic, from southern Sweden and Finland south to northern Morocco, Algeria and Libya, east to Kazakhstan, the Middle East (Gusenleitner & Schwarz, 2002) and Afghanistan (Dylewska, 1987). The nominate form occurs throughout its European range, with the exception of southern Italy and Sicily, where it is replaced by A. similis croceiventris Morawitz.
Falk (1991) lists this species as Notable B (now known as Nationally Scarce Nb).
Throughout much of southern Britain this is a rare and very local bee but occurs in various habitats, including chalk grassland, moorland and rough coastal landslips. M Macdonald (pers. comm.) describes the bee as being quite common along forest rides in northern Scotland.
Univoltine; late April to the end of June.
Apparently oligolectic on Fabaceae (Westrich, 1989). In Britain, a female has been observed collecting pollen from a gorse flower.
Perkins (1919) reports the species as sometimes nesting in large, compact aggregations. Dylewska (1987) states that in mainland Europe the species nests singly.
Willow (sallow), aubretia, bilberry, pear, hawthorn, common bird’s-foot-trefoil, gorse, clover, sycamore, bogbean, ground-ivy and speedwell.
No Nomada has been associated with this mining bee. Specimens are very rarely stylopised, apparently by Stylops alfkeni (Perkins, 1919, 1943; Kinzelbach, 1971).
2012 - name changed 2024
