Osmia aurulenta is a solitary bee that is found along our east and south coasts. It nests in empty snail shells, and we have always assumed it is restricted to sand dunes in Ireland. It is recorded inland in Britain, but generally on calcareous soils (grasslands, quarries, chalk woodlands).
In 2015, John Fogarty discovered a new population of Osmia in Co. Tipperary, where it appears to be nesting in peat banks. It was suspected to be O. aurulenta and then confirmed by British expert Steven Falk. This is very unusual behaviour for the species and is something we will try to investigate further.
