Fork-jawed nomad bee, Nomada ruficornis, a wasp-like black, red and yellow cuckoo bee — *Nomada ruficornis*, fork-jawed nomad bee. gailhampshire, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nomada ruficornis Nomad beeCuckoo beeSpring-flyingWidespread

UK Bee Species

Fork-jawed Nomad Bee (Nomada ruficornis)

Nomada ruficornis Linnaeus, 1758 · subgenus Nomada · family Apidae

The fork-jawed nomad bee is a wasp-like spring bee in black, red and yellow, and one of Britain's larger nomad, or cuckoo, bees. It is named for the forked tips of its jaws, and it is the dedicated cleptoparasite of the orange-tailed mining bee, laying its eggs in that host's nests rather than building its own.

Quick facts

Common name

Fork-jawed nomad bee

Scientific name

Nomada ruficornis

Authority

Linnaeus, 1758

Family

Apidae

UK status

Widespread, scarcer in the north

Size

Female about 8 to 11 mm

Active

Spring, around March to July

Lifestyle

Cuckoo (cleptoparasite)

Host

Orange-tailed mining bee

Diagnostic

Forked (bidentate) jaws

Nest

None; uses the host's nest

Temperament

Harmless to people

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Apidae
Genus	Nomada
Subgenus	Nomada
Species	Nomada ruficornis

A cuckoo in wasp's clothing

Nomad bees, genus Nomada, are cuckoo bees: they build no nest of their own and gather no pollen, but slip into the nests of other bees to lay their eggs, leaving the host's stored food to feed the intruder's grub.^[4] Nearly hairless and boldly patterned in black, red and yellow, they look strikingly wasp-like, which is exactly why they can loiter around a host's nest without raising alarm.

The fork-jawed nomad bee is one of the larger British nomads, with females roughly 8 to 11 mm long.^[4] In the field it closely resembles the very common Nomada flava and N. panzeri, but there is one reliable clue.

The forked jaws

Its English and scientific interest both rest on its mandibles, which end in two points rather than one. With a hand lens you can watch a gripped bee open its bidentate, or forked, jaws, a feature it shares in Britain only with N. fabriciana.^[4] Its thorax is also a little furrier than its look-alikes.^[1]

It builds nothing and gathers nothing. The fork-jawed nomad bee lives entirely on another bee's labour.

The orange-tailed mining bee's shadow

The fork-jawed nomad bee is the special cleptoparasite of the orange-tailed mining bee (Andrena haemorrhoa), and its presence anywhere should be checked wherever that host occurs.^[2] Its own distribution therefore tracks the host's: found throughout the UK but becoming scarcer further north.^[3]^[5] It shares the same broad range of habitats as the mining bee and can often be seen flying low over sunny banks and lawns where the host is nesting.^[1]

Adults are on the wing in spring, from around March into July, matching the flight of the host so that fresh mining-bee nests are available to parasitise.^[3] Beyond the UK its range extends right across the Palaearctic to Japan.^[3]

One host

The fork-jawed nomad bee is a dedicated cuckoo of a single mining bee, the orange-tailed mining bee.^[2]

How the cuckoo works

A female fork-jawed nomad bee finds an orange-tailed mining bee nest still being stocked, enters, and lays an egg. When it hatches, the nomad grub destroys the host's egg or young larva and eats the pollen store the mining bee had gathered, so a single nomad replaces a single mining bee.^[4] Because it collects no pollen of its own, the fork-jawed nomad bee visits flowers only for nectar, and has been recorded at spring blooms such as dandelions, willow, forget-me-nots and greater stitchwort.^[4]

March to July

The fork-jawed nomad bee flies in spring, timed to the flight of its orange-tailed mining bee host.^[3]

A natural balance

It is tempting to see a cuckoo bee as simply harmful, but a healthy population of the fork-jawed nomad bee is a sign of a healthy population of its host. Cleptoparasites sit near the top of the bee food web and tend to disappear first when their host declines, which makes them useful indicators of a functioning system.^[2]

Why it matters

The fork-jawed nomad bee is a reminder that a garden or meadow is not just its obvious pollinators but a layered community. It contributes little pollination itself, yet its presence signals a thriving orange-tailed mining bee population and, with it, all the spring pollination that bee provides. Supporting the host, by leaving sunny banks and lawn edges undisturbed and growing early flowers, supports the cuckoo too.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I identify a fork-jawed nomad bee?

Look in spring for a wasp-like, nearly hairless bee patterned in black, red and yellow, one of the larger nomad bees at around 8 to 11 mm. It is very like Nomada flava and N. panzeri, but its jaws end in two points rather than one, a forked or bidentate tip you can see with a hand lens. Its thorax is also a little furrier.

What is a nomad bee?

Nomad bees are cuckoo bees in the genus Nomada. They build no nest and collect no pollen, instead laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, usually mining bees, so the host's stored food feeds the nomad's grub. Their wasp-like look helps them go unnoticed near a host nest.

Which bee does the fork-jawed nomad bee parasitise?

It is the special cleptoparasite of the orange-tailed mining bee (Andrena haemorrhoa). Where you find one, it is worth watching for the other, as the nomad's range and flight closely track its host's.

When is the fork-jawed nomad bee active?

In spring, from around March into July, timed to match the flight period of its orange-tailed mining bee host so that fresh, part-stocked nests are available to parasitise.

Why is it called fork-jawed?

Because its mandibles, or jaws, end in two teeth rather than one. This bidentate tip gives the bee both its English name and one of its most reliable identification features, shared in Britain only with Fabricius' nomad bee.

Does the fork-jawed nomad bee collect pollen?

No. As a cuckoo it gathers no pollen at all and has no pollen brush. It visits flowers only to drink nectar, and relies entirely on the pollen its host has already stored.

Do fork-jawed nomad bees sting?

They are harmless in practice. Like other cuckoo bees they are solitary, have no nest or colony to defend, and pose no concern to people.

Does the fork-jawed nomad bee make honey?

No. It stores no food of its own at all, let alone a surplus, and depends on its host's provisions. Only the honeybee makes honey in quantity. Compare the bee families in the World Bee Atlas.

Related species

Sources & references

Falk, S. Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, Bloomsbury, and the Steven Falk Flickr collection: Nomada ruficornis (bidentate mandibles, furrier thorax, separation from N. flava and N. panzeri, host and habitats).
BWARS (Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society). Species accounts: Nomada ruficornis and its host Andrena haemorrhoa: the fork-jawed nomad bee as the special cleptoparasite. bwars.com.
Crowley, L.M. et al. (2023). The genome sequence of the fork-jawed nomad bee, Nomada ruficornis (Linnaeus, 1758). Wellcome Open Research (univoltine March to July, host A. haemorrhoa, size, distribution to Japan).
Buzz About Bees. Fork-jawed nomad bee (Nomada ruficornis): cleptoparasitic biology, nectar flowers and host relationship. buzzaboutbees.net.
NBN Atlas / GBIF Secretariat. Nomada ruficornis (Linnaeus, 1758): taxonomy and UK distribution. nbnatlas.org; gbif.org.

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