Species Account for Melitta tricincta

Essex Red Data List comment
forages on Odontites

Species text
Melitta tricincta is a mining bee recorded widely from W. Cornwall to W. Norfolk, with post-1970 records mostly from the southern English chalk downs and the coast of Sussex and Kent, in a variety of habitats, including dry chalk and limestone grassland, coastal landslips and soft rock cliffs. In Essex it has been found in a number of locations in the south of the county, usually reasonably near the coast. Nesting has not been observed but burrows are thought to occur in warm, sunny localities with bare ground or short turf. It has a close association with Red Bartsia Odontites verna, from which the females collect pollen to provision their nests. Red Bartsia is usually a plant found in situations where some disturbance occurs, enabling the plant to germinate and develop in an open sward. It is probably a host species to the Nationally Scarce cuckoo bee Nomada flavopicta. References

Habitats

Recorded management for locations with Melitta tricincta

Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Melitta tricincta

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