Clover Melitta vs Common Fieldcap

Melitta leporina compared with Agrocybe pediades

Key Differences

Clover Melitta is Near Threatened while Common Fieldcap is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clover Melitta	Common Fieldcap
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	Melittidae	Strophariaceae
Genus	Melitta	Agrocybe
Species	Melitta leporina	Agrocybe pediades

Conservation Status

Clover Melitta

NT — Near Threatened

Common Fieldcap

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clover Melitta	Common Fieldcap
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clover Melitta

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Common Fieldcap

Habitat

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

Range

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

Clover Melitta

The clover Melitta (Melitta leporina) is a solitary bee in the family Melittidae, order Hymenoptera, with a distribution centered on temperate Europe including Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden. Unlike social bees, Melitta species are ground-nesting solitary bees in which each female constructs and provisions her own nest independently. M. leporina is oligolectic — highly specialized in its pollen collection — gathering pollen almost exclusively from leguminous plants, particularly clovers (Trifolium), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), and related species in the family Fabaceae. This specialization makes the bee closely dependent on the availability of flowering legume patches within foraging distance of nesting sites. Nest sites are in bare or sparsely vegetated sandy or loamy soils, often in sunny, sheltered locations such as road embankments, field margins, and sandy grasslands. Adults fly from midsummer through early autumn in a single annual generation. M. leporina is classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, reflecting declining populations across much of its European range due to agricultural intensification, loss of flower-rich grasslands, reduction in diverse legume cultivation, and loss of suitable open nesting habitat. Conservation of M. leporina depends on maintaining semi-natural grassland habitats with diverse flowering legumes and accessible sandy soils for nesting, along with reduction of pesticide use that harms adult foraging and larval survival.

Common Fieldcap

The Common Fieldcap (<em>Agrocybe pediades</em>) is a saprotrophic fungus belonging to the genus Agrocybe within the family Strophariaceae. It typically produces small, tan to pale brown cap-shaped fruiting bodies and is often found growing in clusters or scattered on lawns, grassy areas, forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil-rich ecosystems. The species typically inhabits forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems, obtaining nutrients by breaking down dead organic matter. Its geographic range includes several European countries — Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden — as well as the United States in North America. <em>Agrocybe pediades</em> is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, reflecting its broad distribution and apparent stability. Biological traits of this species, including specific data on fruiting body size, lifespan, and ecological preferences, remain poorly documented in the scientific literature. Like other members of its genus, it typically fruits during warmer months and often appears after rainfall in nutrient-rich grassland and woodland habitats.