A rare solitary bee has been discovered in the North Coast

Funded by the Environment Fund from Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the research to learn more about a rare solitary bee known as Colletes floralis was commissioned by the National Trust NI and carried out by Buglife.

Listed as a priority species, the Colletes floralis is found in dry dune slacks in the North Coast. Featuring a medium sized body, black abdomen with narrow white bands, and a fox-coloured face and thorax, this is a solitary bee, meaning a single female constructs and provisions a nest.

Threatened by loss of breeding and feeding habitat, the bee has been recorded nesting at four sites on the North Coast, two of which, Portstewart Strand and White Park Bay, are owned by the National Trust. Despite so few nesting sites, it’s the only bee species that is more widespread in Northern Ireland than in Britain.