Eucera longicornis

The extraordinarily long antennae of the males set this genus apart from the males of any other British bee genus.

The male's face plate and upper lip are bright yellow, while the female's head is entirely black.

In Britain it is very local but can be numerous where it occurs, in southern England and south Wales.

Its range is widespread in Eurasia, extending east to Siberia and China.

There is one generation a year, flying from mid-May to mid-July and exceptionally into August.

It is not yet settled whether the bee overwinters as a resting prepupa, as an adult, or both.

In Britain its habitats are coastal grasslands including cliffs and landslips, open rides in deciduous woodland and, occasionally, heathland.

Nest burrows are generally grouped in aggregations in sparsely vegetated or eroded soil.

At two nest aggregations at Gatwick Airport, pea-family pollen was found in every sample from returning females and made up 90 percent of each sample on average.

On the European mainland, males pollinate certain orchids by mistaking the flowers for females of their own species and trying to mate with them.

At the Gatwick aggregations, males emerged earlier than females in both 2018 and 2019.

In Belgium, males of this bee pollinate the late spider orchid Ophrys fuciflora.

In Britain it is listed as a Notable A species in the 1991 national review of scarce bees.

It is a rare solitary bee in decline across its range in Britain and in other European countries.