Cliff Mining Bee vs Fragrant Bracket

Andrena thoracica compared with Trametes suaveolens

Key Differences

Cliff Mining Bee is Extinct while Fragrant Bracket is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cliff Mining Bee	Fragrant Bracket
Kingdom	Animalia (동물)	Fungi (균계)
Phylum	Arthropoda (절지동물)	Basidiomycota (담자균류)
Class	Insecta (곤충)	Agaricomycetes (주름버섯강)
Order	Hymenoptera (벌목)	Polyporales (구멍장이버섯목)
Family	Andrenidae	Polyporaceae
Genus	Andrena	Trametes
Species	Andrena thoracica	Trametes suaveolens

Conservation Status

Cliff Mining Bee

EX — Extinct

Fragrant Bracket

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cliff Mining Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

Fragrant Bracket

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, Mediterranean forests and woodlands, and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (4 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Chile). Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges 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.