# Help to identify weird native bee? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Bee Chat\ **Tags:** native-bees\ **Created:** [October 15, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447 "2019-10-15T00:56:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wynnie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/wynnie/32/12702_2.png) [@Wynnie](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Wynnie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/1 "2019-10-15T00:56:53Z")
Hi fellow native bee lovers. Yesterday I found these weird and wonderful bees in my garden. At first I thought it they were just another couple of my honey bees until one landed and I realised how bright its body was. ![IMG_3651](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/9/a/9a0334de522fecce62e612e662768a151268dca5.jpeg) ![IMG_3653a](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/e/9/e9e680d07112266e2a1e15c33e45c1f81238a182.jpeg) ![IMG_3655a](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/8/6/862fb9504fd0e6cc0b0e8c1b99ed8416065052f3.jpeg) There were two hovering around and one was periodically landing and looked to almost be flicking crusher dust from the path with its feet - as though it was covering the hole behind it. It is slightly larger than a honey bee (like a drone size) and was a little bit louder too. It could even be a wasp I suppose, but the size, stature, wings and proportions of its body look much more like a bee. The abdomen looks very much like a blue banded bee but the bright yellow body is totally different. You can see the blue tinge in the last photo. I found many different native bees in the garden before (domino cuckoo - like my profile pic - blue banded bees, tropical carpenter bees etc.), but always I’ve been able to identify them within a few minutes on google. These guys however I can’t find anywhere, so would love to know what they are. If anyone doesn’t know the bee but knows a good place to ask let me know! 🙂 Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Peter48](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/peter48/32/14625_2.png) [@Peter48](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Peter48)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/2 "2019-10-15T01:15:54Z")
Thanks for the pics and posting Wynnie, I haven’t seen one like it before and it might be a new unidentified species. When you have a name for it let us know, it certainly is different with the very yellow legs and blueish hue in the bands. Amazing how many bees live underground. Cheers ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 1:58am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/3 "2019-10-15T01:58:26Z")
Looks like a wasp to me, but I know nothing about Australian insects. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![skeggley](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/skeggley/32/27522_2.png) [@skeggley](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/skeggley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/4 "2019-10-15T02:14:49Z")
Nice photos. Although it does look like a bee I reckon it’s the Bembix wasp. Although the one in this link is smaller there’s a lot in common. [http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane\_apoidwasps/SmallBembix.htm](http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_apoidwasps/SmallBembix.htm) ---
**Author:** ![JeffH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/jeffh/32/7192_2.png) [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/5 "2019-10-15T02:46:22Z")
I think @skeggley nailed it. A Bembix (sand) wasp. I recall someone else looking for an identification. That ended up being a Sand Wasp. It’s amazing how some bees look like wasps & vice versa. A predator of native bees, the Syrphid Fly looks to me like a wasp. For years I saw them hovering about thinking they were wasps. All they want to do is do the same thing in a native bee hive as what SHBs do in honeybee hives. SHBs will do the same thing in native bee hives, if given the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/6 "2019-10-15T03:07:24Z")
> [@skeggley](#): > > I reckon it’s the Bembix wasp You are _ **The Man** _! Nicely done, Skeggs, nicely done. 😍 By the way, I agree, @Wynnie’s photo is awesome. Much better than most of the professional photos on web sites. Back patting all around, I think! 🤩 ---
**Author:** ![Wynnie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/wynnie/32/12702_2.png) [@Wynnie](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Wynnie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/7 "2019-10-15T03:27:40Z")
> [@skeggley](#): > > Bembix wasp Yes!! Thanks so much @skeggley. This is a different species but it allowed me to easily find right one - [Yellow Sand Wasp](https://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_apoidwasps/SandWasp.htm) (Bembix palmata). They are ground nesters and the page even talks about how the wasp can work in pairs just as I saw 🙂 Thanks everyone! 🤩 ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/8 "2022-09-21T21:10:46Z")
OK @skeggley, I have another one for you. Spotted today in southern France, on a verbena bush. I think it may be Amegilla quadrifasciata? Any thoughts from you or any other native bee lovers? ![Image 9-21-22 at 11.01 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/c/c/cc686c07802ec83b9f6faba77c77123bdd223ea0.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![skeggley](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/skeggley/32/27522_2.png) [@skeggley](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/skeggley)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/9 "2022-09-22T15:14:32Z")
Hey Dawn, that’s a pretty bee alright and without question is a relative of our blue banded bee, two of the 250 odd known Amegilla genus’ so similar. Likely another buzz pollinator too. A quick look on Wiki says ours have blue bands because they like blue flowers.🤔 Must be true ‘coz it’s on the internet. 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/help-to-identify-weird-native-bee/23447/10 "2022-09-23T20:57:06Z")
I completely agree. Even when I saw it, I thought it was a blue-banded bee, but very very pale blue. This particular species seems to be called a white-banded bee, but the are still Amegilla. She had a lovely thin blue/white stripe down the back of her hind legs too. Not visible in our photo. Apparently they are solitary, but there were several of them on this verbena bush (it was a very big bush - over 2m diameter). I loved watching her at work 😊