Worcestershire Record No. 16 April 2004 pp. 27-28

ACULEATE HYMENOPTERA IN WORCESTERSHIRE

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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