Provisional atlas of the aculeate Hymenoptera of Britain and Ireland

The work of mapping the distribution of aculeate Hymenoptera, plus describing their life histories, is the major activity that BWARS undertakes. To complete species profiles, BWARS runs provisional maps and profiles in its newsletters. This is accompanied by a call for records to supplement any already held by the society. The account and map is revised according to any new data that is received. This is then published in an atlas, which contains fifty-sixty species accounts.

Copies of  parts of the… Read more

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

Details of all workshops we know about are listed on our "Diary of Events" pages. If you know of other courses please get in touch.

Page outlining what we offer at workshops with image or two

Here BWARS describes some of the pioneering workers and "founding fathers" of British aculeate Hymenoptera.

Additional profiles are welcome. Please contact BWARS with any suggestions for Hymenopterists that you feel should be included in this section, particularly if you can provide source material that describes the lives and work of important aculeate workers of the past. We hope to include specialists who are associated with particular counties or regions.

Morice, FD (1849-1926)

Saunders, Edward (1848-1910)

Stelfox, Arthur Wilson (1883-1972)

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Aims

Colletes hederae was recorded as new to Britain in 2001 when Ian Cross discovered specimens at Langton Matravers in Dorset. Since then, the bee has spread across much of southern England (as far north as Shropshire, Staffordshire & Norfolk) and into south Wales. It is now extremely plentiful in some coastal localities, and increasingly, inland. Peak activity matches the flowering period of its key pollen forage plant, Ivy (Hedera helix), and the species is on the wing from early September until early November. This makes it the last… Read more

The content of this website is the work of many dedicated individuals who have contributed hours of their own time freely and willingly over many years.

• The glory of the photographs speak for themselves.
• Every dot on every distribution map represents the effort of a recorder in the field who has taken the trouble to submit their sighting.
• The text has been written by experts from within the ranks of BWARS making use, where possible, of material composed initially for printed atlases.

The website has been constructed on the open-… Read more

Hymettus Ltd is the premier source of advice on the conservation of bees, wasps and ants within Great Britain and Ireland. As such they are major users of BWARS data and expertise and are, therefore, key partners.

Recent research has included work on the decline of the rare ant Formica exsecta Nylander (pictured right), the conservation neeeds of the rare bee… Read more

First, a caution: Many aculeates require considerable skill and experience in order to determine the correct species. To overcome these difficulties, BWARS runs frequent workshops to help members learn how to identify the various groups of aculeates. Key works that help with the determination of species are listed below.

There are a small number of species that can be determined reasonably easily by beginners, and details of some of these species are given here.

Photographers

For… Read more