Wool carder bee

I have only once seen this bee before, six years ago in London.  It is the wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum), widespread in the south of the UK but rare this far north.  These bees were in Kiftsgate Court Gardens in north Gloucestershire last week.  The first I noticed was a male, patrolling his territory around some lambs' ears plants (Stachys).  Every few minutes he paused to refuel.

At one stage he took a short rest on my boot.

Wool carder bees are unusual in many respects.  The male is larger than the female and defends a territory against other males and against most other insects, allowing in only females of his species.  Most solitary bee females mate only once but these bees have to put up with frequent mating as the price of access to the flowers and the leaves on the Stachys.

The female bees bite off the hairs from the leaves and roll them into balls to carry back to the nest where they are used to line the cells, behaviour I have yet to see.  These females were mainly collecting nectar.

Although Anthidium manicatum is rare this far north there have been a few records along the Tyne valley in the last couple of years, including in my friend Liz's garden.  Liz spotted a male bee last Saturday and when I called in on Sunday he was resting in a hole in her bee house.  I managed to get this picture of his tail, showing the three spikes he uses as weapons to defend his territory.

I hope there will be more sightings of our northern wool carder bees to report soon.