vs Cliff Mining Bee

Bacidia rosella compared with Andrena thoracica

Key Differences

is Critically Endangered while Cliff Mining Bee is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Cliff Mining Bee
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lecanorales (Lecanorales)	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family	Ramalinaceae	Andrenidae
Genus	Bacidia	Andrena
Species	Bacidia rosella	Andrena thoracica

Conservation Status

CR — Critically Endangered

Cliff Mining Bee

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Cliff Mining Bee
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, temperate coniferous forests, and boreal forests and taiga, among 5 distinct biome types within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and United States. Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Cliff Mining Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

Bacidia rosella is a crustose lichen in the family Ramalinaceae, assessed as Critically Endangered (CR). It grows on the smooth bark of ancient trees in old-growth woodland habitats with long ecological continuity. Its critically endangered status reflects extreme rarity and the near-total loss of suitable veteran tree habitats across its range.

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.