De bee Megachile ericetorum ^[1] is a permanent resident in our garden. Every year the Broad-leaved sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius) attracts many specimens to the garden that than also visit other flowers

The females are regularly jumped on by the males to force mating. So far there have been no nesting females in the garden though.

Here a couple is mating, the smaller and lighter coloured male is on top.

After the male took off she remained in the spot with her abdomen pointed upwards, and left some time after. The females are more yellow and somewhat more purplish red coloured and shorter and more defined in their hairs than the males.

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Literature

¹ Nederlands Soortenregister