4-Spotted Digger Wasp vs Cliff Mining Bee

Crossocerus quadrimaculatus compared with Andrena thoracica

Key Differences

• 4-Spotted Digger Wasp is Least Concern while Cliff Mining Bee is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	4-Spotted Digger Wasp	Cliff Mining Bee
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family	Crabronidae	Andrenidae
Genus	Crossocerus	Andrena
Species	Crossocerus quadrimaculatus	Andrena thoracica

Evolutionary Relationship

4-Spotted Digger Wasp and Cliff Mining Bee share a common ancestor at the Order level: Hymenoptera. (Ants, Bees & Wasps)

Conservation Status

4-Spotted Digger Wasp

LC — Least Concern

Cliff Mining Bee

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	4-Spotted Digger Wasp	Cliff Mining Bee
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

4-Spotted Digger Wasp

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Cliff Mining Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

4-Spotted Digger Wasp

The 4-Spotted Digger Wasp (Crossocerus quadrimaculatus) is a species in the genus Crossocerus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is found across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, inhabiting diverse terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Cliff Mining Bee

The Cliff Mining Bee, Andrena species in the family Andrenidae, is a solitary ground-nesting bee that excavates tunnels in cliff faces, earthen banks, and compacted sandy or loamy soils, where the loose or friable substrates exposed in cliff profiles provide ideal nesting conditions. Mining bees in the genus Andrena are among the most species-rich solitary bee genera in the world, with hundreds of species across the Holarctic region, many narrowly specialized in their choice of pollen host plants. Female cliff mining bees construct vertical or angled burrows in cliff faces, with lateral cells off the main shaft, each containing a pollen ball and a single egg. Males are typically smaller and emerge before females to establish territories near nesting sites. Many Andrena species are oligolectic, collecting pollen from only a small number of plant species, making their populations sensitive to the availability of specific flowering plants in the landscape surrounding nesting areas. Cliff and bank nesting habitats provide well-drained, sun-warmed substrates essential for brood development. The loss of natural cliff faces and earthen banks to development, vegetation succession, and quarrying reduces available nesting habitat for cliff mining bees.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden