The hairy-footed flower bee (Anthophora plumipes) is a medium-sized solitary bee, 13–15 mm long, with strong sexual dimorphism: males are ginger-brown with feathery mid-leg hairs, while females are black with distinctive reddish-orange scopal hairs on their hind tibiae. Active from March to June — with occasional early individuals from late February — it is among the earliest bees to emerge in spring and is a key pollinator of long-tubed flowers such as lungwort (Pulmonaria), comfrey (Symphytum), and red dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum). Its range spans most of Europe and Asia from Britain east to China and Japan, and south into North Africa and the Near East. In gardens it is easily attracted by planting lungwort and comfrey, and it nests in soft mortar, cob walls, and exposed clay banks.

Plants this species pollinates · 1

Nectar plants · 2

Widespread across the Palearctic — Britain and continental Europe east to China and Japan, including the Near East and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia). In the UK, common throughout England and Wales, with records extending into southern and central Scotland in recent decades. Introduced to the eastern United States (Maryland/Washington D.C. area) from Japan in the 1980s, where it has since spread and become locally common.