Painted nomad bee, Nomada fucata, a slim wasp-like bee with yellow and brown bands and orange antennae

Nomada fucata, the painted nomad bee. Floor Arts at Waarneming.nl, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nomada fucata | Nomad bee Cleptoparasite Spreading north Wasp-like

UK Bee Species

Painted Nomad Bee (Nomada fucata)

Nomada fucata Panzer, 1798 · family Apidae

The painted nomad bee looks more like a small wasp than a bee: slim, hairless and banded in yellow and brown. It is a cleptoparasite, a cuckoo bee that lays its eggs in the burrows of the yellow-legged mining bee and leaves its grub to eat the host's stored food. Once a rare bee of the far south, it has surged northwards in recent decades, following its host. Track its spread on the UK Native Bee Species Map, or set it among the world's bees in the World Bee Atlas.

Quick Facts

Common namePainted nomad bee

Scientific nameNomada fucata

AuthorityPanzer, 1798

FamilyApidae (Nomadinae)

UK statusSpreading north; locally common

SizeMedium, wasp-like

HostYellow-legged mining bee

ActiveMarch to June, then July to August

GenerationsTwo per year (bivoltine)

MarkingsYellow and brown bands

Pollen brushNone (cleptoparasite)

LookOften mistaken for a small wasp

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Apidae
Subfamily	Nomadinae
Genus	Nomada
Species	Nomada fucata

A bee that looks like a wasp

Nomad bees are the largest group of cuckoo bees in Britain, and almost all of them are cleptoparasites of mining bees in the genus Andrena.^[4] They are slim and nearly hairless, banded in yellow, red and black, and are very often mistaken for small wasps. The painted nomad bee is a medium-sized member of the group, with an abdomen of alternating yellow and dark-brown bands, a reddish first segment, yellow shoulders and, in the female, entirely orange antennae.^[1][3] Males carry a small dark patch partway along the antennae.

Like all cuckoo bees, the painted nomad bee gathers no pollen and builds no nest. The female feeds only on nectar and spends her time flying low over the nesting banks of her host, searching for burrows.^[3]

A bee on the move

Once a scarce species confined to the far south of England, the painted nomad bee has spread dramatically northwards in recent decades, reaching as far as County Durham. It has moved in lockstep with its host, the yellow-legged mining bee, which has expanded its own range at the same time.^[1]

A cuckoo of the yellow-legged mining bee

The painted nomad bee is a specialist cleptoparasite of the yellow-legged mining bee (Andrena flavipes).^[2] The female lays a single egg inside a host nest cell that has been stocked with pollen and nectar. When her larva hatches it first destroys the host's egg or young grub, then settles down to eat the food store the mining bee had gathered for its own offspring.^[3] The grown larva spins a cocoon in the cell and pupates, and a new adult emerges to repeat the cycle, with the second generation's pupae overwintering in the soil.^[3]

Because its whole life is tied to its host, the painted nomad bee matches the host's timing exactly. Both are bivoltine, producing two generations a year: a spring flight from around March to June and a second, shorter-haired summer generation in July and August.^[1]

Two generations a year, timed precisely to the two broods of its host. Where the yellow-legged mining bee flies, the painted nomad bee follows, often hovering low over the host's nesting aggregations.^[1]

Where and when you will see it

The painted nomad bee turns up in a wide variety of open, sunny habitats, including coastal grassland and soft-rock cliffs, old quarries and sandpits, calcareous grassland, brownfield land, roadside verges, and even banks and lawns in towns and villages.^[2][5] The common thread is the presence of its host: almost anywhere the yellow-legged mining bee nests in numbers, the painted nomad bee can appear.^[2] Adults take nectar from open, short flowers, particularly daisies and members of the pea family.^[3]

Source conflict

The naming of British nomad bees is an area of active revision, with a fully revised national account published only recently. Several Nomada species are very similar, and males in particular can be hard to separate, so some older identifications and host records are being re-examined. The painted nomad bee's link to the yellow-legged mining bee, however, is well established.^[4]

Why it matters

The painted nomad bee is a textbook example of how a parasite tracks its host. Its rapid spread north is a visible sign of the yellow-legged mining bee's own expansion, and watching one is often the quickest way to find a thriving colony of the host. Far from harming the wider bee community, a stable cuckoo bee is part of a healthy one. Leaving sunny banks and bare patches of ground undisturbed supports the mining bee, and with it the painted nomad bee that shadows it.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I identify a painted nomad bee?

Look for a slim, almost hairless, wasp-like bee with an abdomen banded in yellow and dark brown, a reddish first segment and yellow shoulders. Females have entirely orange antennae; males show a small dark patch on the antennae. Seeing it fly low over a yellow-legged mining bee colony is a strong clue. Nomad bees are tricky, so a specimen may be needed for certainty.

Is the painted nomad bee a wasp?

No. It is a true bee that simply looks wasp-like because, as a cuckoo bee, it has lost the dense hair and pollen-carrying brushes of pollen-collecting bees. It belongs to the genus Nomada, the nomad bees.

What does the painted nomad bee parasitise?

It is a specialist cleptoparasite of the yellow-legged mining bee (Andrena flavipes). The female lays her egg in a stocked cell of the host's nest, and her larva eats the food store after destroying the host's own egg or grub.

Is the painted nomad bee rare?

It used to be a scarce bee of the far south, but it has spread strongly northwards in recent decades and is now locally common across much of England, reaching as far north as County Durham, mirroring the spread of its host.

When is the painted nomad bee active?

It has two generations a year, a spring flight from about March to June and a second summer generation in July and August, matching the two broods of its yellow-legged mining bee host.

Does the painted nomad bee sting?

Females have a sting but are not aggressive towards people and will only use it if handled. These small, wasp-like bees are harmless to gardeners and worth watching at a mining bee colony.

Why do nomad bees look like wasps?

Because they no longer collect pollen. Having lost the need for thick hair and pollen brushes, nomad bees evolved a slim, shiny, brightly banded body that resembles a small wasp, which may also help them slip into host nests unrecognised.

Does the painted nomad bee make honey?

No. As a cuckoo bee it collects no pollen and stores no honey, taking nectar only for itself. Only the honeybee makes honey in quantity. Compare cuckoo bees, mining bees and the honeybee in the World Bee Atlas.

Related species

Cleptoparasite

Common Mourning Bee

Melecta albifronsRead more → Mining bee

Tawny Mining Bee

Andrena fulvaRead more → Mining bee

Ashy Mining Bee

Andrena cinerariaRead more →

Sources & references

Falk, S. Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, Bloomsbury, with identification notes for Nomada fucata (markings, northward spread, bivoltine flight). Steven Falk Flickr collection.
NatureSpot and BWARS field accounts for Nomada fucata, the painted nomad bee: habitats and association with Andrena flavipes.
BWARS (Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society). Species account: Nomada fucata Panzer, 1798, host biology and parasitic lifecycle. bwars.com.
Falk, S. (2024). A revised account of the British nomad bees (Apidae: Nomada). BWARS (taxonomy and host associations under active revision).
GBIF Secretariat. Nomada fucata Panzer, 1798: distribution and taxonomy (subfamily Nomadinae). gbif.org.

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