RECORDS OF NOTE, 2008

APIDAE

Osmia bicolor (Megachilinae,scarce)

It seems there is a small population of this scarce southern species on Bredon Hill. It may be a recent colonist due to a northward movement as a result of climate change. This is a distinctive little bee, the female looks at first like a worker of Bombus lapidarius, but the flight pattern and behaviour are quite different. Nests are constructed inside empty snail shells. I saw several females on 15.4.and 18.4.2008.
Coelioxys rufescens (Megachilinae, widespread).

I managed just one photo when this female turned up in the garden on 28.6.2008. Note the peculiar pointed abdomen on females of this elusive genus.
Andrena labiata (Andrenidae, restricted).

One female collected from Speedwell flowers at Beckford Gravel Pit in the south of the county on 11.5.2008. This is a very pretty little bee with the red bands on it’s abdomen contrasting beautifully with the blue flowers of the Speedwells. This uncommon species is known to favour Speedwells.
DIPTERA

Leptarthrus brevirostris (Asilidae, local).

I was lucky to get a reasonably good photo of a male amongst rank vegetation along a bank at Bredon Hill on 29.5.2008. My 1st record of this localised species, which is associated with chalk and limestone grasslands in southern England.
Dysmachus trigonus (Asilidae, local).

One of several collected from a sandy path at Kempsey Common on 30.6.2008. My only previous record is of one from Hartlebury Common. Sandy heathland is the preferred habitat for this localised robber-fly, so I believe the tiny remnant of suitable heath remaining at Kempsey must make this and many other heath-specialist species particularly vulnerable to disturbance.

Callicera aurata (Syrphidae, RDB3).

A male collected from Dogwood flowers alongside Deerfold Wood, Drakes Broughton on 14.6.2008 is my 1st record of this spectacular Hoverfly.

BUTTERFLIES

White-letter Hairstreak. Satyrium w-album (Lycaenidae, local).

One alighted briefly on Creeping Thistle flowers along a boundary at Kempsey Common on 30.6.2008. I noted the presence of a couple of young Elms in the boundary hedgerow. I have few records of this species.
MACRO MOTHS

Red-belted Clearwing. Synanthedon myopaeformis (Sesiidae, notable B).

One on Creeping Thistle flowers at Kempsey Common on 27.7.2008 during very hot sultry weather at noon. My 1st record of this species, which is associated with old Apple trees, the principal larval foodplant. I noted there were a few in a neglected orchard on private land on the other side of a nearby hedgerow.
COLEOPTERA

Leptura rubra (Cerambycidae, insufficiently known, formerly RDB3).

One on ride-side foliage at Tiddesley Wood on 29.7.2008. This is only my 2nd record of this longhorn beetle following the male I photographed at almost exactly the same location at Tiddesley on 19.7.1997. That one was on Rosebay Willowherb, I suspect that both specimens had simply ‘crash-landed’ on the trackside foliage following a period of flight.
Pyrrhidium sanguineum (Cerambycidae, RDB2).

One on a small pile of recently cut Oak logs at Mill Meadow, Drakes Broughton on 10.5.2008. This species is a recent colonist into the county with records from Wyre Forest in the north and the Drakes Broughton area towards the south.
SPHECIDAE

Astata boops (Sphecidae,restricted).

The only known population in Worcestershire seems to be thriving at Kempsey Common, but the site is just a tiny remnant of sandy heathland making the future of this species very vulnerable. Once familiarised, this large digger wasp is easily recognisable in the field. The females can be seen carrying nymphs of large pentatomid shieldbugs such as the Gorse Shieldbug back to their nest burrows. It must surely be present elsewhere in the county?