🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨

The hairy-footed flower bee can be seen in gardens and parks in spring and summer, visiting tubular flowers like red dead-nettle and comfrey. As its name suggests, it has long, orange hairs on its middle legs.

The hairy-footed flower bee emerges from hibernation in early spring, from late February to March. The males emerge first and the females appear a couple of weeks later. This species is an important pollinator for early spring flowers. This solitary bee feeds on many spring flowers, including primrose, lungworts, borage, deadnettles, broad bean, and rosemary.

It feeds on the nectar using its long tongue. hairy-footed flower bees will nest in soft mortar in walls, or occasionally in soil. They are commonly seen in gardens in Southern England, as well as along roadside verges.

The female hairy-footed flower bee is black and furry, and resembles a small bumble bee. The males are rusty-brown and have long, orange hairs on their middle legs and feet.