It’s just a week since I wrote on here that I find bees ‘tricky to photograph and even more difficult to identify and, though I don’t usually duck a challenge, bees are simply a step too far’. And then I saw a bundle of these red-and-black bees, and couldn’t help myself – they looked so lovely and distinctive that maybe, just maybe they were identifiable. So, I took some photos.

Of course, when I checked my photos later that day, it didn’t take long to discover that they’re NOT identifiable, at least not to species. I can tell you that they’re Blood bees, of the genus Sphecodes, but there are 17 species of Blood bee in the UK and they need to be examined microscopically to distinguish one from the other.

I did discover that these bees may look lovely but they have a dark side; Blood bees are kleptoparasites (or cleptoparasites). The entry on the Naturespot website explains that they are parasites of

ground-nesting solitary bees, including Halictus, Lasioglossum and Andrena. The female enters a host’s nest and breaks into the cell, killing the egg or grub. She lays one of her own eggs and reseals the cell. When the egg hatches, the grub consumes the food intended for the host species’ larva.