Andrena vaga
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Andrena vaga, the grey-backed mining bee, is a species of solitary bee which is found in most of Europe but which is very rare in Great Britain, where it may be recolonizing in the south-east after previously being extirpated. It specialises in feeding on the pollen of willows.
A. vaga is a large mining bee, 13-15mm in length, which has the entire thorax clothed in grey hairs, sometimes showing a slight buff tinge, the scopae and hind femorae have white hairs. It also has patches of white hairs on the abdomen sides. On closer examination the surface of the cuticle can be seen to be shiny metallic black. The face is covered with brownish hairs It resembles the ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria). Males have the entire upper surface of the thorax covered in grey hair and pale hair on the hind tibia. When it can be seen, sternite 8 will show a downwards curve at its tip. The males have the sides and top of the face coloured white, with the bottom having long white hairs, it has long mandibles and rounded cheeks.
A. vaga is found in Europe as far north as 66°N, although it is found only in southern Scandinavia, east to Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Cologne | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 5 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 6 | Brussels | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 7 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 9 | Munich | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Kyiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-Backed Mining Bee sighting in Moscow on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 392nd most-seen of the 1111 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-Backed Mining Bee in Moscow on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey-Backed Mining Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 13
Of the 13 cities where we can rate Grey-Backed Mining Bee sightings, Moscow ranks 11th at under 5%. The best odds are in Warsaw (Poland, about 10%), Cologne (Germany, about 10%) and Berlin (Germany, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey-Backed Mining Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Moscow (27 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.
