The Essex Naturalist
41
The Nationally Scarce (Notable B) Dasypoda altercator seems fairly common
in the East Thames Corridor, foraging widely and even visiting yellow
composites in my old garden in Grays. However nesting sites must be much
more restricted with nesting occurring in loose sand. In August 1996 the bee was
nesting in a small sandy area on the sea wall at Barking, although where
favourable conditions exist the bee can nest in its hundreds, as in the sparsely
vegetated sandy soil present at one end of the silt lagoons at East Tilbury.
The Nationally Scarce (Notable A) Macropis europaea is always likely to be
very rare in Essex, with its close association with stands of Yellow Loosestrife
Lysimachia vulgaris, a plant with few sites left in the county. Colin Plant took a
single male at Orsett in 1984 but it is not known whether the plant was present
at this time. Orsett and Bulphan Fens were drained and converted to arable land
long ago, probably in the 1960s (Hoskins & Dudley-Stamp, 1963, p.144) and
although it is possible Yellow Loosestrife survived in some of the ditches, an
examination of the area last year suggests that the plant is unlikely to survive
now. It was therefore exciting on 2nd and 3rd August 1996 to find three male
Macropis flying around the stand of Yellow Loosestrife that survives at the
western end of Cranham Marsh N.R. (Harvey, 1996c). Cranham Marsh has
suffered from a long-term lowering of the water-table and much of its floral
interest has been lost. The stands of Yellow Loosestrife that survive at each end
of the reserve and the Macropis must both be considered vulnerable.
Mining bees and cuckoo bees (Family Megachilidae)
Cuckoo bees in the genus Stelis always seem to be scarce. Stelis punctulatissima, the
Nationally Scarce (Notable B) cleptoparasite of the Carder bee Anthidium
anthicatum has been taken at several places across the county in July and August
1996. Single females were taken in my small garden at Grays and at Middlesex
Filter Beds on the Essex border. Two males were taken near Warren Pit
Woodham Walter and Charles Watson took one male at Saffron Walden Castle.
A single female of the Nationally Rare (RDB3) Stelis ornatula, a cleptoparasite of
the small megachilid bee Hoplitis claviventris, was taken at West Thurrock PFA
lagoons. This is only the second record for Essex, the first being of another single
female taken at the nearby Mill Wood Pit site. The host bee is very rare in Essex
with records from Fingringhoe Wick and the Mill Wood Pit area.
The Nationally Scarce (Notable B) Silvery Leaf Cutter bee Megachile leachella
was found to be present at Barking Levels in considerable numbers in July 1996.
It was nesting in a small sandy area on the sea wall, but also in nearby PFA areas
where the PFA had become sculptured into strange shapes reminiscent of wind-
swept dunes and sand deserts.
Jerry Bowdrey took a male Coelioxys elongata at Colchester on 13th June 1996.
This seems to be the first county record since it was recorded by Harwood
(1884) and Nicholson (1928). R.G. Payne collected a female Coelioxys inermis at
Star Lane Brickworks on 26th June 1995, only the second recent record.
Coelioxys are cuckoo bees or cleptoparasites usually of Megachile species.