Clark'S Mining Bee vs

Andrena clarkella compared with Clitocybe diatreta

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clark'S Mining Bee
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Andrenidae	Tricholomataceae
Genus	Andrena	Clitocybe
Species	Andrena clarkella	Clitocybe diatreta

Conservation Status

Clark'S Mining Bee

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clark'S Mining Bee
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clark'S Mining Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (5 countries) and North America (United States).

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

Clark'S Mining Bee

The Clark'S Mining Bee (Andrena clarkella) is a species in the genus Andrena. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Clitocybe diatreta is a saprotrophic agaric fungus belonging to the family Tricholomataceae, found across temperate European forests and woodland habitats from Scandinavia southward through Central Europe. It typically fruits in autumn among leaf litter of deciduous and mixed forests, favoring moist, humus-rich soils beneath beech, oak, and conifer stands. The cap is convex to depressed, pale greyish-buff or whitish, with the decurrent gills and funnel-shaped profile characteristic of the genus Clitocybe. Microscopic examination reveals ellipsoid spores with smooth walls, confirming identity in this difficult taxonomic group. The diatreta species complex has been subject to taxonomic revision as molecular techniques clarify boundaries between morphologically similar taxa. As a decomposer of forest litter, C. diatreta contributes to the breakdown of cellulose and lignin in temperate forest floors, releasing nutrients back into the soil ecosystem. Its presence indicates structurally diverse, undisturbed forest conditions preferred by many specialist saprotrophic fungi in European woodland communities.