---
title: "Osmia rufa"
description: "Osmia bicornis — Insetti e ragni. Osmia bicornis (synonym Osmia rufa) is a species of mason bee, and is known as the red mason bee due to its covering of dense gingery hair."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/red-mason-bee
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Osmia rufa

> Osmia bicornis — Insetti e ragni. Osmia bicornis (synonym Osmia rufa) is a species of mason bee, and is known as the red mason bee due to its covering of dense gingery hair.

- Scientific name: *Osmia bicornis*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `urban` (Città e giardini)
- iNaturalist observations: 17777
- Wikidata: [Q303261](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q303261)
- iNaturalist taxon: [876599](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/876599)

## Names

- en: Red Mason Bee
- de: Rote Mauerbiene
- es: Osmia rufa
- fr: Osmie rousse commune
- it: Osmia rufa
- nl: Rosse metselbij
- pt: Osmia rufa
- pl: Murarka ogrodowa

## Countries with the most observations

GB (3939), DE (3351), PL (837), DK (799), FR (595), NL (592), FI (431), AT (333), RU (256), BE (248), SE (222), CH (221)

## Summary

Osmia bicornis (synonym Osmia rufa) is a species of mason bee, and is known as the red mason bee due to its covering of dense gingery hair. It is a solitary bee that nests in holes or stems and is polylectic, meaning it forages pollen from various different flowering plants. These bees can be seen aggregating together and nests in preexisting hollows, choosing not to excavate their own. These bees are not aggressive; they will only sting if handled very roughly and are safe to be closely observed by children. Females only mate once, usually with closely related males. Further, females can determine the sex ratio of…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmia_bicornis

## Photo

![Osmia rufa](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/red-mason-bee/medium.jpg)

Photo: Liubov Ilminska · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/115512726

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/red-mason-bee?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).