HYMENOPTERA > APOCRITA | Aculeata > APOIDEA > Andrenidae

Females of this species are reasonably distinctive, particularly when fresh, having a dense, bright reddish-brown pile on top of the thorax that contrasts with a black, shiny abdomen, which has white hairs on the sides of tergites 1-3 giving the appearance of grey patches. The smaller, slimmer males have a similar pile on the thorax, but it's usually more dull orange in colour. They have a white-haired face with black hairs along the inner eye margins.  The abdomen has sparse bands of white hairs cross the bases of tergites 1 and 2. Flying from late March through to July it is one of the more common mining bees to be found, occurring in a wide range of habitats with spring-blossoming plants and fairy dry soils, but especially favouring open grassland or farmed countryside. In this respect, it's worth noting that the particular area of Garston Wood where I found some is adjacent to farmland. The species has known associations with the cleptoparasitic bee, Nomada goodeniana.

Checking the NBN Atlas at the beginning of May 24, Andrena nitida was clearly one of the ten most frequently recorded Andrena species in Dorset.