Chocolate Mining Bee vs Red-horned Mini-miner

Andrena carantonica compared with Andrena nanula

Key Differences

• Chocolate Mining Bee is Least Concern while Red-horned Mini-miner is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chocolate Mining Bee	Red-horned Mini-miner
Kingdom same	Animalia (животные)	Animalia (животные)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (членистоногие)	Arthropoda (членистоногие)
Class same	Insecta (насекомые)	Insecta (насекомые)
Order same	Hymenoptera (перепончатокрылые)	Hymenoptera (перепончатокрылые)
Family same	Andrenidae	Andrenidae
Genus same	Andrena	Andrena
Species	Andrena carantonica	Andrena nanula

Evolutionary Relationship

Chocolate Mining Bee and Red-horned Mini-miner share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Andrena.

Conservation Status

Chocolate Mining Bee

LC — Least Concern

Red-horned Mini-miner

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chocolate Mining Bee	Red-horned Mini-miner
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chocolate Mining Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

Red-horned Mini-miner

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

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

Chocolate Mining Bee

The Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena carantonica) is a medium-sized solitary bee in the family Andrenidae, native to Europe and extending across temperate Eurasia. Mining bees of the genus Andrena are ground-nesting bees that excavate burrows in soft or sandy soils, creating underground cells provisioned with pollen and nectar as larval food. Andrena carantonica is one of several spring-emerging Andrena species associated with fruit trees and spring-flowering plants; females frequently visit the flowers of apple, cherry, hawthorn, willow, and other early-season species, making them important pollinators of both wild plants and orchard crops. The species is often an early-season visitor alongside other spring bees, making it an important pollination service provider before managed honeybee colonies are at full strength. Males typically emerge before females, patrolling host plant patches in search of mates. The species is eusocial in the broad sense, with females sometimes nesting in loose aggregations in favoured soil sites. The IUCN classifies Andrena carantonica as Least Concern; it is one of the more widespread and frequently recorded Andrena species across its range. Threats to mining bee populations generally include loss of nesting habitat (bare ground), loss of floral resources through agricultural intensification, and pesticide use.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden