The Essex Naturalist
105
in the ground and is partial to bramble flowers. We have recent records for Ferry
Fields (Tilbury), Linford Sand Pit and Mill Wood Pit in Thurrock and West
Mersea where the bee was nesting in a shallow sandy bank at the edge of a small
remnant dune area.
Genus: Coelioxys cuckoo bees. Coelioxys are cleptoparasites, mainly on
species of Megachile but also some Anthophora. Five of the seven British species
have been recorded in the county. We have recent records for only three of
these.
Coelioxys (Coelioxys) quadridentata (L.) - RDB3
Listed for N Essex by Falk (1991) without further detail. A cleptoparasite of the
smaller Anthophora species. There are no recent records in the county.
C. (Schizocoelioxys) elongata Lepeletier
Recorded for the Colchester district by Harwood (1884) and noted by
Nicholson (1928) for Billericay and the Colchester district. There appear to be
no recent records.
C. (Schizocoelioxys) inermis (Kirby)
= acuminata Nylander
Recorded for the Colchester district by Harwood (1884) and noted as common
by Nicholson (1928) who gives Hale End, Colchester district, etc. The only
recent record is for Ferry Fields (Tilbury).
C. (Schizocoelioxys) rufescens Lepeletier & Serville
A cleptoparasite of Megachile species. It is recorded for the Colchester district by
Harwood (1884) and noted again by Nicholson (1928). We have recent records
for four localities in Thurrock at Broom Hill (West Tilbury), Ferry Fields
(Tilbury), PH's garden in Grays and Mill Wood Pit. It was also recorded at
Southend in 1995 by Roger Payne.
C. (Schizocoelioxys) vectis Curtis
= conoidea (Illiger)
A cleptoparasite of Megachile maritima. We have recent records for four localities
in the county, Dolphin Pit and the East Tilbury silt lagoons in South Essex and
Chigborough Lakes and a remnant dune area at West Mersea in North Essex.
ANTHOPHORIDAE
SUBFAMILY NOMADINAE cuckoo bees.
Nomada species are all cuckoo bees, chiefly cleptoparasites on mining bees of the
genus Andrena but some of the species attack Halictus, Melitta and Eucera.
Twenty-two of the twenty-eight British species have been recorded for Essex,
but two of these are unconfirmed. We have recent records for only fourteen of
these species.