Listed below are various resources to help aculeate workers.

Identifying difficult groups

Hedychridium (Chrysididae) Sculpture

Photographs of sculpture on the thorax of the four British species as described in the RES key to Cuckoo Wasps - Chrysididae by Morgan.

Chrysis ignita group - aids to identification

Several species of  Chrysidid wasps in the Chrysis ignita group are very similar in appearance. They can be fiendishly difficult to identify. BWARS president Michael Archer has produced three articles which describe the… Read more

The Hymenoptera Aculeata of the British Islands - Edward Saunders (1896)

A descriptive account of the families, genera, and species indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, with notes as to habits, localities, habitats - Edward Saunders.

Published in 1896, this book is of considerable historical interest. The downloadable pdf of this rare book still contains much of interest, as well as a splendid series of hand-coloured plates depicting many species of ants, bees and wasps.

Saunders… Read more

Sheringham Park, Norfolk (National Trust).

Saturday 23rd June 10.30am – 4.00pm.

This workshop will cover the identification of bumblebees based on field work, photographs and inspection of live specimens. The day will also provide guidance about the conservation of bumblebees and how to encourage them in your garden.

Cost £20. To book please ring the National Trust on 01263 820550.

Tutors Nick Owens and Rob Coleman.

Test Key for Hylaeus bees

Identifying bees, wasps and ants? Try these first...

Most bees, wasps and ants (aculeate Hymenoptera, or "aculeates" for short) require considerable skill and experience to identify them. There are however a small number of bees and wasps that, with care, can be identified quite easily. On these pages you will find photos and pointers for the identification of some of the commoner distinctive species.

Online recording pages for the spring species have now been developed and will be active in early March, to coincide with the flight periods. Just click on… Read more

Key to Stenamma worker ants

A visual guide for the identification of British Coelioxys

Bees
 

Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles (2-Volume Set). George Else and Mike Edwards (2018). A comprehensive key and accounts for the British species of bees. 775 pages in two volumes. Corrections available here - updated 31 December 2022

Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Steven J. Falk (2015). Keys and describes all the British species known by 2015.

… Read more

British Potter & Mason Wasps: Key - M. Archer

Francis Morice was born on June 23rd 1849 in St. John’s Wood. His father, D.S. Morice, came from Canterbury (though he was of Scottish extraction), whereas his mother hailed from Dorset. His early education was received at a number of private schools, including Uppingham, which he joined when he was eleven. Four years later (1864) he went to Winchester and, at seventeen (1866), he entered New College, Oxford. There he read Classics, gaining a second class in Classical Moderations and a first in Lit. Hum. He also won the Chancellor’s Latin Essay Prize and became the first… Read more