Bug FAQLarge Scabious Mining Bee
Andrena hattorfiana · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Andrenidae
Also called: Scabious Bee
These solitary bees are 13 to 16 mm long and have a dark-brown body with sparse light hair; the first two abdominal segments are reddish. They live in dry, nutrient-rich or poor meadows, flood-dam edges, road embankments and forest edges from lowlands up to montane zones, and are active from May through August, feeding mainly on Knautia species and occasionally on Scabiosa columbaria.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The bee is dark brown with sparse light hair and the first two abdominal segments are reddish.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 13 to 16 mm (0.5 to 0.6 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found in dry meadows, flood-dam areas, road embankments and forest edges, from lowlands to montane elevations.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They are oligolectic, collecting pollen mainly from Knautia arvensis, with Knautia dipsacifolia as a secondary source, and may use Scabiosa columbaria if Knautia flowers fade early.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females dig their own nests in sandy soil, creating 5 to 10 brood cells each containing one egg and a pollen provision for the larva.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults can be seen from May through August.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species occurs across most of Europe and the Near East, from central Spain to the Urals and from Asia Minor to the Caucasus, reaching north to southern England, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
A cuckoo bee, Nomada armata, parasitises this species, and adults can be infested by the strepsipteran Stylops melittae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Maine.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When are Large Scabious Mining Bees active?
You can see them from May through August.
Source: Wikipedia
What flowers do they visit?
They mainly collect pollen from Knautia arvensis, also from Knautia dipsacifolia, and sometimes from Scabiosa columbaria.
Source: Wikipedia
Where do they build their nests?
Females dig nests in sandy soil, making several brood cells each with an egg and pollen food.
Source: Wikipedia
What looks similar to this bee?
The cuckoo bee Nomada armata parasitises it, and adults may be infested by Stylops melittae.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Andrenidae)
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Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrena_hattorfiana
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.