Andrena clarkella
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Clark's miner bee (Andrena clarkella) is a species of miner bee in the family Andrenidae. Other common names include Clark's andrena and Clarke's mining bee. It is found in Europe and Northern Asia (excluding China) and North America.
Etymology: William Kirby named the species in honor of Bracy Clark, an English entomologist. Identification: 10-13 mm. Male with brown hair with loose tergite bands. Rarely on flowers, more on tree bark basking. Female easy to determine in the field: very densely hairy, with black hairs on the abdomen and reddish brown hair on the mesonotum. Hind legs fox red with equally colored rail brush. Small specimens resemble Andrena bicolor. Terminal fringe dark brown.
Pollen sources: Oligolectic on willows (Salix, Salicaceae). Nest building: Bare to sparsely overgrown areas in sparse forests Forest fringes or clearings, preferably in sandy soil, but also nests in humus soils, mostly in smaller aggregations with low nest density. The nest entrance is locked before each food supply flight. One to four brood cells are created per nest, often only 5 cm, a maximum of 30 cm below the surface.
Habitat: Affinity to forests; forest fringes, forest clearings, clear cuts, preferred on sandy soil. From the lowlands to the subalpine altitude. Parasites: cuckoo bee is Nomada leucophthalma. As another nest parasite Bombylius major was observed. Adults are sometimes infested with Stylops melittae.
Flight period: In one generation from early March to mid-May. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 2 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Yekaterinburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 9 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 10 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Clark's Mining Bee sighting in Helsinki on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 181st most-seen of the 838 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Clark's Mining Bee in Helsinki on a given day, against under 5% in June to February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Clark's Mining Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Clark's Mining Bee sightings, Helsinki has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Manchester (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Novosibirsk (Russia, about 10%).
Same genus: Andrena
The closest relatives of the Clark's Mining Bee that you can see in Helsinki (genus Andrena, Mining Bees) are Early Mining Bee (about 10%), Grey-Banded Mining Bee (about 10%) and Grey-Backed Mining Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Clark's Mining Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Helsinki (30 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
