The hairy-footed flower bee is a species of bee present in most of Europe, in the Near East and in North Africa. In the 20th century the species was introduced in the US.
The species gets its name from males whose middle legs have very elongated tufts of black hair, which are used to attract females during courtship.
These bees can be seen in Malta from as early as the third week of January until early April. In colder climates they emerge from their nests later, in some areas as late as March, but remain active even in June.
They collect pollen and nectar from early flowering plants such as borage (fidloqqom) and the white hedge nettle (te sqalli). They have a very long tongue and prefer flowers whose nectar is deep inside and not easily reached by shorter-tongued bee species.
The adults grow up to 15 millimetres long. They have a dense cover of hair similar to that of bumble bees.
The hairy-footed flower bee is not a social insect like the honey bee
The body colour of this bee varies widely within its geographic range. In Malta, both males and females are light brown while in other parts of Europe one can find grey males and black or brown females. The differences are so great that this species has been given several names.
The hairy-footed flower bee is not a social insect like the honey bee and, although in some places large numbers can be found nesting close to each other, they do not build colonies and each bee is independent from neighbouring bees.
Soon after becoming active the females start building nests in clay slopes or steep mud walls as well as in holes in rock faces. The nest consists of a tunnel with a cell at the end. When the cell is completed, the females fills it up with pollen and nectar on which she lays a single egg. When the egg hatches, the larva is surrounded with enough food to last throughout the larval stage.
Both male and females have a fast darting flight. A visit to a flower lasts only a few seconds and a lot of patience is required to photograph one of these bees.
When flying, both sexes emit a high-pitched buzz but recently I noticed that the males buzz at a higher pitch than females.
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