Curious wheter this is a small bee or a bee like insect

Question: There are a lot of them pollinating my cherry tree and I have not had any luck identifying them.

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied April 06, 2023, 11:22 AM EDT
response: Hi,  Yes they appear to be a type of bee but we are unclear on the species. Perhaps a type of mining bee or cellophane bee? You can explore out webpage on pollinator profiles which has other links listed there and it may help narrow it down.  https://extension.umd.edu/resource/meet-pollinator-cellophane-bee https://extension.umd.edu/resource/mining-bees-lawns Common Maryland Bees Emily

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 06, 2023, 11:28 AM EDT
response: I will do what I can to get some better pictures.  As best I can tell, they have only 1 or maybe no stripes of yellow on their abdomens but they so an impressive job of collecting pollen on their legs.

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied April 06, 2023, 11:34 AM EDT
response: sounds good, that is what they seem like to us too.

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 06, 2023, 12:44 PM EDT
response: Here are two photos, one showing wings and the abdomen is partially obscured by the flower but I think you can see there are no stripes.  The second photo shows what I think are segments of the abdomen and not stripes.

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 06, 2023, 4:03 PM EDT
response: I have found a bee that may be it.  It is the Spring Beauty Mining Bee (Andrena erigeniae) https://bugguide.net/node/view/267529.  Looking at other pictures, I am wondering if it has fuzzy legs or it is pollen on the legs I am seeing.  I am going to need to take a lot better pictures to figure that out!

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 06, 2023, 4:12 PM EDT
response: Well, I should have known.  It is the hairy legs that actually hold the pollen that the bees carry, so I probably don't need better pictures.  I just need to be smarter!

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied April 07, 2023, 12:15 PM EDT
response: The Spring Beauty Mining Bee only uses Spring Beauty (Claytonia) and one other small spring ephemeral wildflower for pollen, so would not be visiting the cherry blossoms in this case. It's possible the bee belongs to the same general family, however. We can probably rule-out leaf-cutter bees (family Megachilidae) because it isn't collecting pollen on hairs on its belly (which this family is known for since they don't use pollen "baskets" on their legs). Otherwise, though, ID to species might be very difficult -- around 440 species of bees have been documented or are known to occur in Maryland. You can explore that link to a gallery and list of species on Maryland Biodiversity Project if you're curious.  Unfortunately we don't currently have an entomologist or bee specialist at HGIC, but you can try submitting images showing as much of the bee's body and wings as possible to iNaturalist since experts on that app may be able to ID it. If you use social media, some groups might also be able to help narrow-down the possibilities; for example, there are several insect or bee groups (some nation-wide but some more local) where experienced entomologists or naturalists might recognize a bee from only partly-visible body parts. Insect identification to family, genus, or even species often relies on characteristics of insect wing veins, the specific shapes of antennae and legs, the pattern of hair placement on the body, and other fine-scale details.  Miri

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 07, 2023, 12:42 PM EDT
response: Thank you very much for all of the work you have put into this.  I will keep at the sites you sent me, but I will probably give up pretty soon.  I bit off a bit too much to chew!

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied April 07, 2023, 1:07 PM EDT
response: You're welcome, and we understand, it can be pretty overwhelming given our diversity of insects!  Miri