Andrena is one of the largest genera of bees in the world. There are more than 1,500 species in 100 subgenera worldwide, 450 species in 47 subgenera in North America north of Mexico, and at least 68 species in 21 subgenera in Minnesota.

Andrena are cold tolerant, occurring at high altitudes and into Alaska and northern Canada. They are among the first bees to fly in the spring, before flowers bloom and even before the snow melts. They nest in the ground. The female excavates a long vertical tunnel with short side cells into which she places single eggs. Some Andrena are generalist feeders, others specialize on a single genus or species.

Photo by Babette Kis

Description

Andrena is a small to medium-sized, lightly fuzzy bee. Adults are 5⁄16″ to ⅝″ (8 to 17 mm) long.

The face is nearly oval-shaped, wider than long. The compound eyes are nearly vertical and the inner margins are parallel. Beside each compound eye there is a facial groove (fovea) with a dense band of pale hairs. Below the base of each antenna there are two grooves (subantennal sutures), but these are not visible without a microscope. The tongue is short.

On the wings the marginal cell, on the leading margin near the wingtip, is relatively long and has a rounded tip. Next to the marginal cell there are three submarginal cells. The second submarginal cell is much shorter than the other two.

At the base of each hind leg on the female there is a tuft of long, thick, pollen-collecting hairs (scopa).


Distribution
		Sources 4, 7, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82.
9/18/2024


Taxonomy
Order	Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)
Suborder	Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)
Infraorder	Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps)
Superfamily	Apoidea (bees and apoid wasps)
Epifamily	Anthophila (bees)
Family	Andrenidae (miner, fairy, allied panurgine, and oxaeine bees)
Subfamily	Andreninae (typical mining bees)
Tribe	Andrenini

Subordinate Taxa
Subgenus Andrena Subgenus Callandrena Subgenus Cnemidandrena Subgenus Conandrena Subgenus Euandrena Subgenus Gonandrena Subgenus Holandrena Subgenus Larandrena Subgenus Leucandrena Subgenus Melandrena Subgenus Micrandrena Subgenus Opandrena Subgenus Parandrena Subgenus Plastandrena Subgenus Ptilandrena Subgenus Rhacandrena Subgenus Scrapteropsis Subgenus Simandrena Subgenus Taeniandrena Subgenus Thysandrena Subgenus Trachandrena Subgenus Tylandrena

Synonyms
Melittoides

Common Names
andrenine bees miner bees mining bees


Visitor Photos

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Alfredo Colon


Babette Kis
Andrena sp. mining bee Barnes Prairie hedgerow with spring wildflowers, Racine Co., WI photos taken May 20, 2021.

Dan W. Andree

First bee I had seen this season and this early.


MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

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Slideshows

Mining Bees
Andree Reno Sanborn

slideshow


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Other Videos

Mining Bee Andrena nesting
UMN Extension - Yard and Garden

About

Nov 30, 2017

This video is a collection of video clips documenting nesting habitat of mining bees (Andrena spp.).

The purpose of this video is to give the viewer ideas of where to look for mining bee nests on their own property. Knowing the location gives one the ability to protect and avoid disturbing the nesting site, and potentially expanding it based on characteristics of a location already chosen by the bees.

Camcorder


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