Black-thighed Epeolus

A damp start to the day but by 11 a.m. it had largely cleared so Pete, Alex and I set off for the annual monitoring visit to a Bedfordshire sand quarry. I think I'm probably fighting off a cold so it was good to have Alex there to help me record the quadrats, and make sure I didn't forget anything!

When we'd finished the recording I had a quick walk round to see if there were any extra plants to be added to the list. This very attractive bee Epeolus variegatus was busy on the flowers of Common Ragwort. It often frequents open woodland and heathland, and is a cleptoparasite of various species of Colletes.