A new, downloadable, draft key to the Pompilidae (spider-hunting wasps) plus a link to the Pompilidae section of Steven Falk's Flickr site has been added to the Identification guides page
Andrena similis Smith,1849, Andrena croceiventris Morawitz, 1871, Andrena rufo-hispida Dours, 1872, Andrena stefanii Pérez, 1895, Andrena ocreata cyprisina Warncke, 1975, Andrena (Taeniandrena) similis caraimica Osytshnjuk, 1994
This mining bee has been renamed from Andrena similis Smith,1849, it is a close relative of Andrena wilkella (Kirby), with which it could easily be confused. However, it differs from that species in having the postscutellum, and the lateral and posterior margins of the scutellum clad with very dense, short, erect, reddish-orange hairs. In addition the posterior hair-band of the third gastral tergite is very widely broken. In A.
The distribution extends from southern England north to Yorkshire and in Wales and again in northern Scotland. However, there are apparently no records from much of northern England and southern Scotland. Note the concentration of records in the vicinity of the Cromarty and Dornoch Firths. The species is not known from Ireland or the Channel Islands.
The species is widely distributed in the western Palaearctic, from southern Sweden and Finland south to northern Morocco, Algeria and Libya, east to Kazakhstan, the Middle East (Gusenleitner & Schwarz, 2002) and Afghanistan (Dylewska, 1987). The nominate form occurs throughout its European range, with the exception of southern Italy and Sicily, where it is replaced by A. similis croceiventris Morawitz.
Falk (1991) lists this species as Notable B (now known as Nationally Scarce Nb).
Throughout much of southern Britain this is a rare and very local bee but occurs in various habitats, including chalk grassland, moorland and rough coastal landslips. M Macdonald (pers. comm.) describes the bee as being quite common along forest rides in northern Scotland.
Univoltine; late April to the end of June.
Apparently oligolectic on Fabaceae (Westrich, 1989). In Britain, a female has been observed collecting pollen from a gorse flower.
Perkins (1919) reports the species as sometimes nesting in large, compact aggregations. Dylewska (1987) states that in mainland Europe the species nests singly.
Willow (sallow), aubretia, bilberry, pear, hawthorn, common bird’s-foot-trefoil, gorse, clover, sycamore, bogbean, ground-ivy and speedwell.
No Nomada has been associated with this mining bee. Specimens are very rarely stylopised, apparently by Stylops alfkeni (Perkins, 1919, 1943; Kinzelbach, 1971).
2012 - name changed 2024
The bibliography that was on the BWARS site up to June 2023 has sadly been lost. Fortunately an archived copy exists and can be accessed from a link on the Bibliography page via the Resources menu.
The bibliography that was on the BWARS site up to June 2023 has sadly been lost. Fortunately an archived copy exists and can be accessed from the following link.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230607053003/https://www.bwars.com/biblio
Halictus exetinus COCKERELL 1938; Halictus indecisus COCKERELL 1938
Coastal localities in east Devon, Dorset and the Isle of Wight. The type locality of the species is Sidmouth, Devon (Perkins 1895). Records are best based on males, as females are generally very difficult to distinguish from those of L. punctatissimum. Rare and sporadic in the south-west Palaearctic, where the species is distributed from Britain to Romania, and from Morocco to Turkey. Warncke (1981) has prepared a distribution map for the species.
Listed as RDB3 Rare in Shirt (1987) and by Falk (1991).
Mainly rough coastal landslips.
Females from late May to at least August; males from the end of July to late September.
Females usually nest gregariously in burrows excavated in clay exposures at the base of cliffs and slopes above the beach (Spooner 1929).
Males visit wild carrot blossom and yellow-flowered Asteraceae. Female Lasioglossum, provisionally identified as L. angusticeps, have been observed on several occasions visiting common bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) flowers (pers. abs.).
Stylopised males have been collected in two Dorset sites (personal records), probably affected by a Halictoxenos species, perhaps the same as that affecting L. punctatissimum.
2002
This medium-sized Andrena is very similar to the common Andrena dorsata (Kirby), with bright foxy hairs on the thorax and a shining black abdomen with fine lines of white hairs on the apices of the segments, only even more contrasting in appearance. It may be confirmed by careful examination, looking at the shape and form of the hairs on the hind tibia in females and the presence of a line of black hairs against the eyes in the male. It is a rather enigmatic species, being very abundant in a locality for a number of years and then apparently disappearing.
Southern England, with rather more of a central distribution than many of the southerly species, which tend to be south-easterly, also recorded in south Wales.
It is widespread in Central Europe.
This species is listed in Falk (1991) as Nationally Notable/Na (now known as Nationally Scarce).
It occurs in a range of habitats with lighter soils; I have found it in sand and gravel pits as well as on the extensive chalk grasslands of Salisbury Plain.
Bivoltine: late March to May, and July to August.
Widely polylectic.
A species which may nest in very large aggregations on patches of bare ground.
A very wide range, including hawthorn, sallow, blackthorn, dandelion, hogweed, and wild carrot.
None known.
2023
22nd – 29th June 2024 (Saturday to Saturday)
