HYMENOPTERA > APOCRITA | Aculeata > APOIDEA > Andrenidae

A medium-sized Andrena species with females having a brown-haired, rather dull thorax coupled with a shiny, almost bare, dark-coloured abdomen with white hair fringes along the hind margins of tergites 2-4 and a tuft of golden hairs at the tip. The hind tibia and tarsi are orange. Males have a creamy-white clypeus with two small black spots at the sides. The species has widespread, albeit local, distribution across many central and southern counties, but is scarce in the south-west and Wales, and rare in Scotland. It is one of the most common mining bees to be seen in the spring, typically peaking with the blossoming of Hawthorn and Blackthorn. They occur in various habitats, but are most likely to be seen along woodland rides and clearings.

Andrena chrysosceles was ranked at number 17 of the 54 Andrena species recorded in Dorset.