In 1992 I found the Rare (RDB3) bee Andrena hattorfiana (Fabricius) in
an old disused railway cutting at Glemsford (TL8346) near the county
boundary in north Essex. This was the first record of this large
handsome bee in the county for many years. There are specimens in
the Harwood collection in the Natural History Museum collected at
"Colchester" between 1887 and 1913 (G. Else, pers. comm.). It has
declined substantially during this century with records for only about
fifteen post-1970 sites all in southern England (Falk, 1991). There is a
close and possibly obligate association with Field Scabious Knautia
arvensis from which the females gather pollen. Here the plant grows in
some quantity on the sandy soil. Although Field Scabious is still
widespread in Essex I have seen very few places where the plant occurs
in good quantity. Several visits to the old calcareous railway cutting
west of Great Dunmow, where there is a reasonable quantity of Field
Scabious growing on the sides of the cuttings, have failed to detect the
presence of the bee there.
I have found a number of other uncommon Andrena bees in the county
during 1993. The Notable B Andrena bimaculata (Kirby) (conf. J.
Felton) was collected in early July at an old sand pit near Linford. The
species is double-brooded the first brood being reported from late March
to late May and the second brood from early July to late August.
A wide variety of pollen sources are used, but its nesting habits are
poorly documented. It probably nests in dry, sandy soil fully exposed to
the sun and remains widespread but very local with only about 30 post-
1970 sites known (Falk, 1991).
Andrena fuscipes (Kirby) is a local bee which gathers pollen from
ericaceous plants, particularly Calluna. Since there are few heathland
remnants and even fewer and smaller heather areas existing in the
county this bee is always likely to be rare in Essex. I found it to be
common at Tiptree Heath flying around the Calluna flowers and the bee
also occurred foraging on Calluna at Thundersley Great Common and at
the small patch of heather that still remains (outside the boundaries of
the Country Park) at Thorndon Park North (TQ6191). This heather area
is getting overgrown and is in need of opening up. It is remarkable that
the bee should be able to survive and hang on here with such a localised
area of habitat and pollen source to support it. Surprisingly perhaps I
was unable to find the bee at Sunshine Plain in Epping Forest or at the
Backwarden, Danbury Common.
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