from fruit trees such as Prunus, Pyrus and probably Malus. I found
several females of this bee (conf. J. Felton) in the spring at Mucking
Heath where it was flying round gorse and hawthorn blossom.
Family Halictidae
Another new county record was the rare (RDB3) bee Lasioglossum
pauperatum (Brulle) (det. J. Felton) which I found at the Chadwell site
for the first time in 1992. More specimens have turned up again at the
same locality during 1993. It is a rare and extremely localised species,
with post-1970 records for only eight sites in the Isle of Wight, W.
Sussex, E. Kent, W. Kent and Surrey (Falk, 1991). This is apparently
the first record of the species north of the Thames.
The large handsome and nationally notable (Notable B) Lasioglossum
xanthopum (Kirby) (det. J. Felton) also occurs at Chadwell where I have
found it in numbers. This species is one of the largest Lasioglossum
species, and like so many other bees has undergone a serious decline in
many areas, especially inland. Post-1970 records are known for about
thirty sites, mostly concentrated in Kent and the southern coastline, but
with a thin scattering of inland sites occurring as far north as
Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire. The decline inland is likely to reflect
the loss and deterioration of open semi-natural habitats (Falk, 1991). I
also found the bee during 1993 at Mill Wood Pit in Thurrock.
Lasioglossum malachurus (Kirby) (Notable B) has records confined to
southern England and Falk (1991) gives the species as remaining locally
common in northern parts of Kent and parts of the south coast. There
are said to be isolated post-1970 records are given for several counties
including South Essex, but in the past year I have found it to be very
widespread, occurring in nearly all the sites visited.
Lasioglossum puncticolle (Morawitz) is another extremely local (Notable
B) species in most parts of its range which I have recorded in 1993
from Bushy Hill South Woodham Ferrers, Hadleigh Castle, Little
Burstead Common and Wat Tyler Country Park. It has also been
collected at Barking (TQ4682) by L. demons in 1990 (det. J. Felton).
The determination of Sphecodes bees is not easy and at least for the
time being defeats me. I am extremely grateful to John Felton for
identifying my Sphecodes bees. Sphecodes longulus Hagens is mainly
associated with dry, sandy heathland, especially that on the tertiary
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