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SECOND ESSEX RECORD FOR THE RARE BEE Macropis europaea
Macropis europaea is a Nationally Scarce (Notable A) bee which is closely associated
with the flowers of Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia vulgaris. Female bees collect pollen
and a special floral oil from the flowers. The bee is thought to use the floral oils to line
its cells with a greenish-yellow wax-like waterproof substance. This may help ensure
constant humidity inside the cell and also prevent water entering the nest, especially in
winter when nesting areas may become flooded.
Yellow Loosestrife is a very attractive plant which usually occurs beside rivers, canals,
lakes or in bogs and fens. In the Flora of Essex (Jermyn, 1974) the plant is described as
rare and twelve localities are listed. However it seems to have declined considerably
since, and it is considered lost to north east Essex by Tarpey and Heath in Wild Flowers
of North East Essex, 1990.
It is therefore interesting that Colin W. Plant captured a male on the 14th August 1984
near Orsett Fen. (determined by George Else) where Yellow Loosestrife has not been
recorded.. In the past, when they were still fen-commons, the Orsett and Bulphan Fens in
Thurrock must have been a very interesting area indeed for wildlife. The New Naturalist
'Common Lands of England and Wales', 1963 describes them as low-lying areas so ill-
drained as to constitute fen or marsh of little value or interest, commons with little appeal
aesthetically and of little use for recreation, but which could by drainage be converted
into good agricultural land. How times have changed! They appear to have been drained
and turned into arable land soon after this in the 1960s.
1 knew that some Yellow Loosestrife occurred at Cranham Marsh Nature Reserve, so in
August 1993 I went to search for the species, but without any luck. I found the Yellow
Loosestrife in two parts of the reserve, but hours of waiting and gazing at the flowers was
to no avail. Then on the 2nd August this year I decided to have another look. At the
western side of the reserve there is a good stand of Yellow Loosestrife. This time my
patience was rewarded with a single male flying rapidly round the stand of flowers. The
following day I returned with my camera to photograph the Yellow Loosestrife and again
found a single male flying around the flowers. No females were seen, but there is
obviously at least a small population present.
A visit to the Orsett Fen area where Colin had recorded the bee in 1984 was not at all
hopeful. Virtually the whole area seems to consist of arable land with ditches alongside
tracks and fields. There was no sign of any Yellow Loosestrife.
The bee has probably always been very rare in Essex but with the decline of Yellow
Loosestrife it is clearly vulnerable in the county. Every effort should be made to preserve
known Yellow Loosestrife sites and manage them for the plant.
Peter Harvey
THE EAST THAMES CORRIDOR IN ESSEX
Fieldwork this year by Colin Plant and myself continues to demonstrate that this area of
south Essex is of outstanding interest for invertebrates, particularly aculeate Hymenoptera
(bees and wasps) and Diptera (flies). It is certainly the best area in Essex for aculeates
and without doubt of national importance for its populations of rare species and
astonishing biodiversity.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 19, November 1996