Wool Carder Bee

The name 'Carder, is derived from the wool industry where it refers to the process which disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver suitable for subsequent processing.

An accompanying video is available here:

comments (6)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Super cool post! They also seem to have fascinating mating behavior that is highly competitive. Posted 5 years ago
1. Philip Booker
  
  Lion
  
  It's one of the few bee species where the male is bigger than the female.
  
  The males are highly territorial.
  Posted 5 years ago

Patomarazul

Lion

Beautiful! Posted 5 years ago

Christine Young

Lion

I really enjoy your inclusion of videos in your posts! Posted 5 years ago
1. Philip Booker
  
  Lion
  
  Thank you.
  
  Photos are better for inspecting detail.
  
  Videos bring them to life. Posted 5 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    I agree! Videos are so valuable, and yours are very good quality! Posted 5 years ago

The European wool carder bee

"Anthidium manicatum", commonly called the European wool carder bee is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae, the leaf-cutter bees or mason bees. They get the name "carder" from their behaviour of scraping hair from leaves such as lamb's ears. They carry this hair bundled beneath their bodies to be used as a nest lining.

Info 6 1

Similar species: Wasps, Bees, Sawflies And Ants

Species identified by Philip Booker