#3538 · 🐝 bees, wasps & ants

Grey-backed Mining Bee

🇳🇱 Grijze Zandbij ·Andrena vaga

🐝 Bees, wasps & ants 📍 in the Netherlands

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Jürgen Mangelsdorf · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
2. © Jürgen Mangelsdorf · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
3. © Frans · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
4. © Frans · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
5. Wageningen, Nederland:© Chris van Swaay · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. 2116 Bentveld, Netherlands:© Milo "Bulle" van Loon · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. 9728 NS Groningen, Netherlands:© Mick Elliot · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. Groningen, Nassauplein, 9717 CM Groningen, Netherlands:© Mick Elliot · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. Ooij, Netherlands:© Lars Willighagen · CC BY 4.0
10. Werkendam, Netherlands:© Dion · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

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.

base stats

NL sightings 148iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 4,370iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 148 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #36 most seen of the bees, wasps & ants in NL.
4,370 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer in 1799 (227 years ago).