Common Bee Wasp on the lookout
The hole the bee is looking in has just been dug by another, larger bee. The larger bee is actually still inside digging. I saw the small bee being interested in the larger bee and I was wondering what their relation was, normally insects ignore other species. At home I was able to identify the smaller bee and found that it's larvae are parasitic on the larvae of the larger bee.
Dutch name: Gewone dubbeltand (Nomada Ruficornis)
No english wiki, more info here: http://gardensafari.nl/english/picpages/nomada_ruficornis.htm
Just like Bumble Bees suffer from the presence of Cuckoo Bumble Bees, many other bees know such parasites as well. Mining Bees suffer from Wasp Bees. These bees resemble wasps very much, have the striking yellow yellow and black stripes, but they are actually bees. They deposit their eggs in the nest of a mining bee and when their larvae grow up they kill the mining bee's larvae in the process. The species below is parasitic on the Early Mining Bee. On flowers the males are often seen, the females.. more
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