Worcestershire Record No. 16 April 2004 pp. 27-28
Geoff Trevis
The WBRC Database
Hymenoptera are under-recorded in most parts of the country, even in the south-east where species diversity is at its highest and recorders most numerous. The BRC database reveals the expected pattern for Worcestershire, despite Michael Archer’s recent important publications about the hymenoptera on Hartlebury Common and Devil’s Spittleful reserve. Of about 520 aculeate species occurring in the British Isles only 205 have been recorded in the county. These comprise 98 species of solitary bee, 22 species of social bee, 59 species of solitary wasp, 8 species of social wasp and 18 ant species. Many records date from the 1950’s and two species are now either extinct nationally or in the county, these being the bumble bees Bombus subterraneus and Bombus sylvarum (the Shrill Carder bee).
Nonetheless, records are steadily accumulating and the increasing mobility of recorders suggests that the distributions of species reflect the genuine situation rather than the distribution of the recorders. Outside the heaths in the north east of the county there are few records of notable or red data book species though investigations of sites such as the Kemerton Lakes Nature Reserve suggest that further structured recording may well turn up important finds. As is so often the case, rarer species tend to be recorded in preference to the common ones. For instance, since 1990 there have been only 20 records of the ubiquitous, white tailed bumble bee Bombus lucorum whilst, in the same period, there are 30 records of the relatively uncommon ant Lasius brunneus. A check list of county species recorded since 1990 is appended.
Records from Hartlebury Common and Devil’s Spittleful
Dr. Michael Archer has recorded these sites at different times of year over many years and his species lists appear elsewhere in this journal, but some additional, salient features of his conclusions are summarised below.
Devil’s Spittleful |
Hartlebury Common |
|
Species counts: |
||
Solitary wasps |
42 |
35 |
Solitary bees |
67 |
52 |
Social bees and wasps |
15 |
14 |
Total |
124 |
101 |
RDB species |
||
Podalmia affinis |
Pemphredon morio |
|
Philanthus triangulum |
Philanthus triangulum |
|
Andrena tibialis |
Andrena bucephala |
|
Lasioglossum brevicorne |
Sphecodes reticulatus |
|
Sphecodes reticulatus |
Nomada lathburiana |
|
Priocnemis schoedtei |
||
Nationally notable or rare species |
||
Hedychridium cupreum |
Hedychridium cupreum |
|
Oxybelus argentatus |
Oxybelus argentatus |
|
Hylaeus signatus |
Andrena argentata |
|
Andrena bimaculata |
Andrena bimaculata |
|
Andrena humilis |
Andrena humilis |
|
Nationally notable etc. |
Lasiglossum quadrinotatum |
Andrena nigriceps |
Sphecodes ferruginatus |
Lasioglossum quadrinotatum |
|
Dasypoda altercator |
Sphecodes ferruginatus |
|
Nomada pleurostricta |
Dasypoda altercator |
|
Nomada flavopicta |
Archer has developed a statistical analysis of data, based on the number of species on a site and the number of RDB, notable and rare species among them, leading to a quality score to compare sites. Results for Devil’s Spittleful and Hartlebury Common are shown below with results for other sites for comparison.
Site |
Total of solitary species |
Species Quality Score |
Bagmoor Common, Surrey |
148 |
4.9 |
Ambersham Common, West Sussex |
190 |
4.5 |
Hartlebury Common |
87 |
3.4 |
Devil’s Spittleful |
109 |
2.6 |
Gibraltar Point, Lincs. |
84 |
1.7 |
The Worcestershire reserves clearly occupy a position midway between these geographical extremes, as would be expected from its location, though Archer considers them to have more affinity with the southern heaths than with the northern. However, their species richness makes them of national importance.
One cautionary note made by Archer is that, based on more recent surveys, some species should be downgraded either because of range expansion or because of improved recording, and this will affect the quality scores. These species are, Philanthus triangulum, Nomada lathburiana, Priocnemis schoedtei, Andrena tibialis and Sphecodes reticulatus.
Ants
The number of ant species on the database may be increased by two due to taxonomic revisions. The common, black garden ant, Lasius niger, has now been split into two species, L. niger (ss) and L. platythorax. Similarly, Lasius alienus has also been split into two, L. alienus (ss) and L. psammophilus. These are difficult to separate morphologically and their ranges overlap. Old records will need to be reviewed and new records will only be accepted for the four species when positive identification of a voucher specimen has been made by an accredited expert.
References:ARCHER M.E. 2002 The wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of Hartlebury Common Local Nature Reserve in Watsonian Worcestershire. Proceedings of the Birmingham Natural History Society. 28(A): 2–19. | |
ARCHER M.E. 2004 The wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of Devil’s Spittleful Nature Reserve in Watsonian Worcestershire. Entomologists Monthly Magazine. 140:39–49. |
Appendix 1 - Check list of Worcestershire Aculeate Hymenoptera, 1990 – present.
Solitary wasps
CHRYSIDIDAE
Chrysis angustula, Chrysis ignita, Hedychridium ardens, H. cupreum, H. integrum, Trichrysis cyanea.
SAPYGIDAE
Sapyga quinquepunctata
POMPILIDAE
Argenioideus cinctellus, Arachnospila anceps, Arachnospila spissa, Arachnospila trivialis, Arachnospila wesmaeli, Dipogon subintermedius, Episyron rufipes, Evagetes crassicornis, Priocnemis exaltata, P. parvula, P. pertabator, P.schioedtei.
EUMENIDAE
Ancistrocerus gazella, A. nigricornis, A. trifasciatus.
SPHECIDAE
Ammophila pubescens, A. sabulosa, Argogorytes mystaceus, Astata pinguis, Cerceris arenaria, C. rybyensis, Crabro cribrarius, C. peltarius, Crossocerus annulipes, C. megacephalus, C. ovalis, C. pusillus, C. quadrimaculatus, C. wesmaeli, Diodontus minutus, D. tristis, Ectemnius cavifrons, E. cephalotes, E. continuus, E. literatus, E. sexcinctus, Gorytes quadrifasciatus, G. tumidus, Harpactus tumidus, Lindenius albilabris, Mellinus arvensis, Mimesa equestris, M.lutana, Oxybellus argentatus, O. uniglumis, Passaloecus corniger, Pemphredon lethifer, P. lugubris, P. morio, Philanthus triangulum, Podalonia affinis,P. exaltata, Psen equestris, P. latarius, Psenulus pallipes, Rhopalum clavipes, Tachysphex pompiliformis, Trypoxylon attenuatum, T. clavicerum.
Social wasps
VESPIDAE
Dolichovespula media, D. norwegica, D. saxonica, D. sylvestris, Vespa crabro, Vespula germanica, V. rufa, V. vulgaris
Solitary bees
COLLETIDAE
Colletes daviesanus, C. fodiens, C. similis, C. succinctus, Hylaeus brevicornis, H. communis, H. hyalinatus, H. signatus,
ANDRENIDAE
Andrena angustior, A. argentata, A. barbilabris, A. bicolour, A. bimaculata, A. bucephala, A. chrysosceles, A. clarkella, A. cineraria, A. denticulata, A. dorsata, A. flavipes, A. fucata, A. fulva, A. fuscipes, A. haemorrhoa, A. humilis, A. minutula, A. nigriceps, A. nigroaenea, A. ovatula, A. pubescens, A. saundersella, A. scotica, A. subopaca, A. synadelpha, A. tarsata, A. tibialis, A. trimmerana, A. wilkella, Panurgus banksianus.
HALICTIDAE
Halictus puncticollis, H. rubicundus, H. tumulorum, Lasioglossum albipes, L. brevicorne, L. calceatum, L. cupromicrans, L. leucopum, L. leucozonium, L. minutissimum, L. morio, L. parvulum, L. punctatissimum, L. quadrinotatum, L. rufitarse, L. smeathmanellum, L. villosulum, Sphecodes ephippus, S. fasciatus, S. ferruginatus,S. geoffrellus, S. hyalinatus, S. monilicornis, S. pellucidus, S. puncticeps, S. reticulates.
MELITTIDAE
Dasypoda altercator, Melitta haemorrhoidalis
MEGACHILIDAE
Anthidium manicatum, Chelostoma campanularum, Coeloxys inermis, Hoplitis claviventris, Megachile centuncularis, M. ligniseca, M. maritima, .M. versicolor, M. willughbiella, Osmia coerulescens, O. leaiana, O. rufa.
ANTHOPHORIDAE
Anthophora plumipes, Epeolus cruciger, E. variegatus, Nomada fabriciana, N. flava, N. flavopicta, N. fucata, N. goodeniana, N. lathburiana, N. marshamella, N. panzeri, N. pleurosticta, N. ruficornis,N. rufipes.
Social bees
APIDAE
Apis mellifera, Bombus hortorum, B. lapidaries, B. lucorum, B. pascuorum, B. pratorum, B. ruderarius, B. ruderatus, B. terrestris, B. (Psithyrus) bohemicus, B. (Psithyrus) campestris, B. (Psithyrus) sylvestris, B. (Psithyrus) vestalis.
Ants
FORMICIDAE
Formica fusca, F. rufa, Lasius brunneus, L. flavus, L. fuliginosus, L. niger (s.l.), L. umbratus, Leptothorax nylanderi, Myrmecina graminicola, M. rubra, M. ruginodis, M. scabrinodis.
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