Photo: Martin Scheuch / CC BY 4.0

Panurgus calcaratus

Small Shaggy Bee

A small shaggy bee (7–9 mm), deep black with sparse hair and long yellowish hind-leg brushes (females). Males have a large angular head. It is oligolectic on Asteraceae, especially yellow Cichorioideae such as Picris hieracioides, Hieracium pilosella, and Hieracium umbellatum. It nests in self-excavated burrows in sparsely vegetated or bare soil in sand and gravel pits, dry banks, embankments, and ruderal areas. Notably, it exhibits communal nesting: 2–10 females share a single nest entrance but each provisions her own brood cells. The main tunnel branches into 3–5 lateral tunnels each ending in a brood cell. It is univoltine, flying from June to September. In Switzerland it is widespread in warm lowland and montane zones up to 2440 m in the Alps, occurring in dry meadows, ruderal areas, and vineyards. Its brood parasite is Nomada fuscicornis. Swiss Red List: Least Concern (LC).