Common Pantaloon Bee

Dasypoda hirtipes get one of their common names, the pantaloon bee, from the hirsute hind legs of the females which apparently swell up with pollen, deposited in the golden hairs of the hind tibiae as the bee forages making them look as if they are wearing pantaloons. The "pantaloons" make the females highly distinctive and easy to identify, otherwise they are a medium to large bee with yellowish-brown colouration on the thorax and the abdomen is banded with black and golden-brown. Males are less obvious but the abdomen is similar to the female's but their body is coated in long brown hairs. Their legs have longer hair than most bees but they do not have "pantaloons". As they age the sun can cause the colour of the males to fade to silvery-white.

Dasypoda hirtipes occurs across Eurasia from southern Britain to China. It occurs as far north as southern Finland and southern Scandinavia and south to North Africa and the Canary Islands. Within Britain it is found in southern England as far north as Norfolk and western Wales, it is also found on Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel island.