This survey is being hosted online and I'm allowed 10 questions and 100 responses for
free, and because I want to reach this target in my lifetime I'm asking people to
participate with their past and future "larval incidents" in their gardens or allotments,
and to spread the word. It will only take a few minutes; please send a photo if you
possibly can.
For those with access to the Internet, the link is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/
PPBP8FP. Or just Google for "larval incidents" and you will even find a link to my
home page with detailed instructions plus downloadable forms, etc.
Alternatively, get in touch with me and I will send you a form.
Stag beetles - all they need is love and wood.
Grey Mining Bee Andrena cineraria in Wanstead Park
Paul Ferris 116 Capel Road, Forest Gate, London E7 OJS
Visiting the Temple in Wanstead Park on 11th April, my attention was drawn to numbers
of small bees (see Plate 9) that were busy about the slope leading up to the Temple's
portico.
An attractive black and light-grey colour, with the wings giving a somewhat bluish
tinge, they were burrowing into the somewhat sparsely-vegetated ground on the slope.
After trawling through various identification guides, what I came up with was the
Grey Mining Bee Andrena cineraria, which is listed in the Essex Red Data List as
"Vulnerable".
As there appeared to be only three areas within Essex from where these bees have
been reported, I reported the find to Peter Harvey, the recorder for Hymenoptera in
Essex. He sent an encouraging reply, saying that the only other modern records were
also from the Epping Forest area, but all quite a bit further north of Wanstead Park. He
also mentioned that there is another mining bee that looks similar, Andrena nigrospina,
but this is only adult later in the season, late May and June. He suggested that the
discovery was worth a note in the Essex Field Club publications.
The bees appear to have a very limited period when they are observable as adults, and
this may have been the reason why they have not been recorded before - they have just
been missed. This seemed to prove true; when a return visit was made to the slope on
18th April only a few bees were present, and no holes were visible. The weather
conditions were broadly the same - that is to say fine - although the visit was made a
few hours earlier than last time, at 1pm instead of 4pm. It is also the case that the
condition of the vegetation on the slope has changed within the last few years, with
increased usage by humans as the Temple has been opened at weekends and the Temple
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 62, May 2010
13