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home / Insecta · vabzdžiai / Hymenoptera · plėviasparniai / Andrenidae · smiltbitės / Andrena cineraria · smėliabitė
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Andrena cineraria female · smėliabitė ♀
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Andrena cineraria male · smėliabitė ♂
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Andrena cineraria male · smėliabitė ♂
Andrena cineraria · smėliabitė
- ashy mining bee, Danubian miner, grey mining bee
- Graue Sandbiene
- hohtomaamehiläinen
- pszczolinka niebieskawa
- sobersandbi
It is a species of solitary sand bee found in Europe. Appears early in the year. Its distinctive colouring makes it one of the most easily recognised of the genus. The females are black, with two broad grey hair bands across the thorax. The male is also black although the thorax is entirely covered with grey hairs. The male has a tuft of white hairs on the lower face and white hairs on all femora while the female has white hairs only on the front femora. The female has twelve segments to their antennae and the male has thirteen.
They prefer to nest in tended lawns, flowerbeds, parkland, calcareous grassland, orchards and on the borders of agricultural land. The nest is a simple burrow with several brood cells branching off it. The entrances to the burrows are identifiable by the conical mounds of excavated spoil on the surface. The female fills the brood cells with a mixture of nectar and pollen, and lays one egg in each cell. The larva hatches within a few days, grows quickly and pupates within a few weeks. The adults emerge the following spring after hibernation. The male emerges before the female. The nests are frequently invaded by cleptoparasitic "cuckoo bees".