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Submit a sighting of Andrena vaga

Reporting your sightings of Andrena vaga

Andrena vaga is a widespread mining bee in Europe. It is an early season species that collects pollen from willow (Salix species). It has until recently been considered a very rare species, doubtfully native to the UK. Historically, it had been recorded just twice (in Kent) in 1939 and 1946, but not again, until in 2014, numerous specimens were seen at Dungeness, Kent and the Solent coast in Hampshire. It is considered that these are recent arrivals from the continent, rather than emanating from long established populations.

In 2015 A. vaga was recorded from near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, so it may be spreading inland from coastal sites. BWARS is keen to chart the potential spread of A. vaga and will welcome all records. Please try to include a photograph with your record - even poor photos may well be good enough to verify the identification of this distinctive bee. 

BEWARE the similar and very common Andrena cineraria in which the thorax has a black band, whilst A. vaga is white haired across the whole of the top of the thorax. See images below.

A. vaga photo: R Tidman
A. cineraria


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are about to submit a sighting of Andrena vaga. First, tell us who identified it and provide photos of the record if you have any. This information will help us confirm the record
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Identification
Please provide the spatial reference of the record. You can enter the reference directly in the Grid Ref box, or search for a place to zoom the map then click on the map to set it. The more the map is zoomed in, the more precise the grid square will be.
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Please tell us when you saw the record and provide any additional information.
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Submit a sighting of Bombus hypnorum (tree bee)

Reporting your sightings of Bombus hypnorum

BWARS is continuing its long-term mapping project in 2017, in which we are plotting and monitoring the spread of Bombus hypnorum in Britain.

If you have any records of this spectacular, and distinctively marked bumblebee, please submit the full details via this online recording platform. There is a facility for uploading photographs to support records if you have them. Please use the boxes below to provide information on numbers, sexes, flower visitation, behaviour and nest sites, and include any additional information in the "Comment" section.

Photo: Steven Marsh
You are about to submit a sighting of a tree bee, Bombus hypnorum. First, tell us who identified it and provide photos of the record if you have any. This information will help us confirm the record.
Contact Details
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Please provide the spatial reference of the record. You can enter the reference directly in the Grid Ref box, or search for a place to zoom the map then click on the map to set it. The more the map is zoomed in, the more precise the grid square will be. To view a satellite photograph click the + sign at top right of the map
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Please tell us when you saw the record and provide any additional information.
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Include any additional information you think is relevant to the record.

Submit a sighting of Vespa crabro (hornet)

Reporting your sightings of Vespa crabro

 

For the first time, BWARS has enabled online recording for this wonderful spring-emerging species of wasp. No dedicated recording effort purely for this species has been launched in Britain before and an accurate picture of its current distribution is lacking. Questions we are keen to address include:

  1. What is its current range and distribution?
  2. Is there any sign of range change since the BWARS atlas was published?
  3. What nesting sites are being used?
  4. When do the first workers appear?

If you have any records of this large, colourful and distinctive social wasp, please submit the full details via this online recording platform. There is a facility for uploading photographs to support records if you have them. Please include any information on numbers, sexes, flower visitation, nesting sites and behaviour in the "Comments" section.

How to identify Vespa crabro

Queen Hornet  Photo: Nigel Jones
Male Hornet  Photo: Steve Falk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are about to submit a sighting of a hornet, Vespa crabro. First, tell us who identified it and provide photos of the record if you have any. This information will help us confirm the record
Contact Details
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Please provide the spatial reference of the record. You can enter the reference directly in the Grid Ref box, or search for a place to zoom the map then click on the map to set it. The more the map is zoomed in, the more precise the grid square will be.
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Please tell us when you saw the record and provide any additional information.
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Submit a sighting of Andrena cineraria (ashy mining-bee)

Reporting your sightings of Andrena cineraria

For the first time, BWARS has enabled online recording for this characteristic and widespread spring-flying species of bee. No dedicated recording effort of this species has been launched in Britain or Ireland before and an accurate picture of its current distribution is lacking. Questions we are keen to address include:

  1. What is its current range and distribution - especially in Scotland and Ireland?
  2. Is there any sign of further range extension since the BWARS atlas was published?
  3. What nesting sites are being used?
  4. How densely are nests aggregated?
  5. Are there any observations of the special parasite, Nomada lathburiana
  6. Which flowers are being visited?

If you have any records of this very distinctive and widely distributed solitary bee, please submit the full details via this online recording platform. There is a facility for uploading photographs to support records if you have them. Please include any information on numbers, sexes, flower visitation, nesting sites and behaviour in the "Comments" section.

Photo of female: Louise Hislop
Photo of male: Tristan Bantock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are about to submit a sighting of an ashy mining-bee, Andrena cineraria. First, tell us who identified it and provide photos of the record if you have any. This information will help us confirm the record
Contact Details
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Please provide the spatial reference of the record. You can enter the reference directly in the Grid Ref box, or search for a place to zoom the map then click on the map to set it. The more the map is zoomed in, the more precise the grid square will be.
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Please tell us when you saw the record and provide any additional information.
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Submit a sighting of Bombus sylvarum (Shrill Carder Bee)

Reporting your sightings of Bombus sylvarum

Bumblebee Conservation Trust are looking for as many records as possible for Bombus sylvarum (Shrill Carder Bee) and have asked BWARS to put up a a dedicated single species recording form for them on our website. So here it is.

Known for its distinctive high-pitched buzz, the Shrill carder bee is one of the smallest bumblebee species  and is identified by its pale grey yellow colouring, black band of hair between the wings and reddish orange tail. If you have any records of this bumblebee, please submit the full details via this online recording platform. Please include any information on numbers, sexes, flower visitation, nesting sites and behaviour in the "Comments" section.

To enable your record to be verified please include a photograph.

Bombus sylvarum female; a very worn specimen. Photo: Robin Williams
Bombus sylvarum male. Photo : Nick Owens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are about to submit a sighting of a Shrill Carder Bee, Bombus sylvarum. First, tell us who identified it and provide photos of the record if you have any. This information will help us confirm the record
Contact Details
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Please provide the spatial reference of the record. You can enter the reference directly in the Grid Ref box, or search for a place to zoom the map then click on the map to set it. The more the map is zoomed in, the more precise the grid square will be.
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Please tell us when you saw the record and provide any additional information.
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Sussex Bees & Wasps Recording Group 2023 Programme

Submitted by Nigel Jones on

Sussex Bees & Wasps Recording Group 2023 will be meeting during 2023. Dates are:

22nd April Warnham Nature Reserve, Horsham

20th May Fore Wood and Guestling Wood, near Hastings (target species is Osmia pilicornis)

1st July Cradle Hill, near Alfriston

15th July Climping Dunes, near Littlehampton

2nd September Sompting, near Worthing

People should contact James Power by email beforehand if they would like to join any of these meetings: jamesmbuna@gmail.com

Updated key to Vespine social wasps available

Submitted by Nigel Jones on

Updated version December 2022. The Vespine key on  the BWARS website has been extensively revised for many of the male characters, most notably the males of V. rufa, V. germanica and V. vulgaris. The markings on these species are very variable and the only reliable way of separating them is by looking at the genitalia of dead specimens, in particular the shape of the central 'tongue' or adeagus.

There have been small alterations elsewhere in the text.

Download the key here

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