The Essex Naturalist
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species from Billericay and the Colchester district. There are recent records from
only one locality, at Mill Wood Pit, where both the Nomada and host has been
sparingly recorded.
N. ruficornis (L.)
= bifida Thomson
Nicholson (1928) notes the species for the Colchester district and Billericay.
There are recent records for 13 widely distributed localities in the county and it
is probably under-recorded.
N. rufipes Fabricius
= solidaginis misident.
Recorded for the Colchester district by Harwood (1884) and noted again by
Nicholson (1928). A cleptoparasite of Andrena fuscipes and A. denticulata. There
are recent records only for Broom Hill (West Tilbury) and Mill Wood Pit, both
in Thurrock. A. fuscipes, a heathland species, would not occur in these sites and
A. denticulata has not been recorded.
N. sexfasciata Panzer - RDB1
Nicholson (1928) notes the species from Colchester district (rare), Southend,
Walton-on-Naze. A cleptoparasite of Eucera species, it is currently known from
a single site in Britain on the S. Devon coast (Falk 1991).
N. sheppardana (Kirby)
= furva misident.
Recorded for the Colchester district by Harwood (1884) and Nicholson (1928)
adds Billericay. There is a single recent record from Mill Wood Pit in
Thurrock.
N. signata Jurine - RDB2
Falk (1991) lists S. and N. Essex without further details. The species has
declined greatly and Falk gives post-1970 records for only three sites in
Britain. The species is a cleptoparasite of the widespread mining bee Andrena
fulva.
N. striata Fabricius
= hillana (Kirby)
Nicholson (1928) notes the species from Billericay and the Colchester district.
A cleptoparasite of the mining bee Andrena wilkella, we have recent records for
only three localities at Fingringhoe Wick in 1986 (M Edwards), Mill Wood Pit
and Wormingford Mere.
SUBFAMILY EPEOLINAE
Epeolus are cleptoparasites of mining bees in the genus Colletes. There are two
species in Britain, both of which are found in Essex. A number of races have
been described attributed to different Colletes species.