What to look for: This bee has grey and brown hairs over its body. The males have long-oversized antennae on their head, while the females boast white tails
Favourite plants: Legume flowers such as vetches and trefoils
Making a nest: These bees nest in loose soil underground and in cliffs
When active: Spring to summer
Where seen: May - August
Long-Horned Bees
Long-horned bees are one of the UK’s largest solitary bee species. Easily identified by the males’ remarkably long antennae, these bees are black with dark orange tufts of fur on their thoraxes and tips of their tails.
Long-horned bees are incredibly rare in the UK and across Europe. You’re most likely to spot them on grassland or south-facing cliffs in southern England, where they dig burrows in loose, sandy soil to lay their eggs.
They especially enjoy areas rich with wildflowers and shrubs such as vetches, brambles, comfrey, clovers, bird’s foot trefoil and everlasting peas.