About the Large Scabious Mining Bee
Andrena hattorfiana is a species of mining bees belonging to the family Andrenidae subfamily Andreninae. The adults grow up to 13–16 millimetres (0.51–0.63 in) long. They have a black-brown body with sparse light hair, while the first and the second abdominal segment are reddish. The females have a pollen basket of curved hairs on the sides of the thorax.
This endangered solitary bee is present in most of Europe and in the Near East. From central Spain via Ukraine to the Urals and via Asia Minor to the Caucasus; north to southern England and south Wales, in Norway and Sweden to 60.5 ° N, in Finland to 62.5 ° N, in Russia to Perm, south to Sicily, Peloponnese and southern Turkey; not in Crete. In the eastern Mediterranean area (westwards to Sicily) the ssp. dimidiata BRULLE, 1832 occurs. The species is generally uncommon.
Dry nutrient rich and poor meadows, flood dams, road embankments, forest edges. From the lowlands to the montane elevation. Andrena hattorfiana is an oligolectic species, feeding on cardiac plants (Dipsacaceae); The main pollen source in the area is Knautia arvensis, the secondary pollen source is Knautia dipsacifolia... Wikipedia →