Photo: pjt56 / CC BY 3.0

Anthophora plumipes

Hairy-footed Flower Bee

One of the largest solitary bees in Switzerland (14–15 mm) and the earliest spring Anthophora, its loud buzzy flight around lungwort, primroses, and blue cushions in March–April is a quintessential sign of spring. Males are unmistakeable with a bold yellow face and extremely long hairy fringes on the mid-tarsi (the 'hairy feet' that give the species its name). Females vary from dark grey-brown to entirely black, but always have a distinctive red-orange pollen brush (scopa) on the hind tibia and extendable tongue up to 21 mm long to reach nectar in deep flowers. It nests in self-dug burrows in steep loess and loam walls, dry stone walls, and old mortar-jointed buildings, often in large colonies of 150–300 nests. It is polyleptic but favours Boraginaceae, Lamiaceae, and Primulaceae. Its specialist brood parasite is Melecta albifrons (the Common Mourning Bee, also in this collection). In Switzerland it is the most common Anthophora, widespread from lowland gardens and parks up to 1350 m. Swiss Red List: Least Concern (LC).