Pantaloon Bee (Dasypoda hirtipes)

The female, seen here near her nest, is a beautiful bee with long colourful hairs on the hind legs which she uses to collect pollen and also as a brush to clear the sand from her nest entrance. This excavated sand is  piled in a fan shape on one side of the entrance hole. Nest building normally takes place during the afternoon.  There is a lovely clip of a Pantaloon Bee digging her nest on our YouTube link.

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