Photo: Arnstein Staverløkk / CC BY 3.0

Panurgus banksianus

Large Shaggy Bee

A medium-sized shaggy bee (10–12 mm), entirely black with sparse hair and long yellowish hind-leg brushes (females). Males have a large, angular head. It is oligolectic on Asteraceae, particularly Cichorioideae such as hawk's-beard (Picris hieracioides), hawkweeds (Hieracium), and chicory (Cichorium intybus). It nests in self-excavated burrows 6–14 cm deep in sparsely vegetated or bare sandy soil, often in aggregations. It has a remarkable nesting behaviour: each nest has two entrances — one real and one false tumulus entrance to confuse the cuckoo bee Nomada similis. It is univoltine, flying from late June to mid-August. In Switzerland it occurs in forest edges, mountain meadows, sand pits, and sandy ruderal areas from lowlands to 2000 m in the Alps. Swiss Red List: Least Concern (LC).