Aculeate Hymenoptera Recorder’s Annual Report 2000

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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 37

Aculeate Hymenoptera Recorder’s Annual Report 2000 Since being appointed as co-recorder for Aculeate Hymenoptera in the early summer of 2000 one of us (AK) has been attempting to gather together information on previous aculeate recording in Suffolk. It would appear that there has been relatively little, if any, systematic recording of the county’s aculeate hymenoptera since the days of Claude Morley, some 60+ years ago. However, more modern site-specific records are coming to light from a number of national authorities, most notably a comprehensive survey of the Elveden Center Parcs by Steven Falk, which has so far identified over 170 species from the site. Dr Mike Archer, Mike Edwards and one of us (PL) have also undertaken specific contract work, mainly in the Brecks and Sandlings. Mike Edwards has summarised his findings in a previous volume of this journal (Edwards, 1998) whilst Mike Archer’s study was published by the then Nature Conservancy Council (Archer, 1987) and the most interesting records from work at RAF Mildenhall were reported last year (Lee, 2000). One of the first tasks we are undertaking is to collate all previous records of aculeate hymenoptera from Suffolk, including this survey data, to produce a preliminary “checklist” of species for the county towards the end of 2001. A surprising result of this early research has been the number of species already recorded from Suffolk that are unknown from seemingly suitable habitat in neighbouring Essex. These include the minute ant, Tetramorium caespitum, which has been seen at Shingle Street, Sutton Common and Toby’s Walks, Walberswick and doubtless occurs at many Sandlings sites in between, and the digger wasp, Oxybelus mandibularis, taken at Toby’s Walks and also previously recorded at Wangford and Cavenham in the Brecks (see Edwards (1998) for further comments on this species). Although a combination of bad weather and busy workloads conspired to curtail plans for fieldwork during 2000, an interesting start was made. The expanses of Sutton Common have been a great attraction to aculeate workers over the years and have already yielded some very interesting results as a result of recording in 2000. Two RDB3 species have been recorded thus far: the five-banded digger wasp (Cerceris quinquefasciata) which is the subject of both national and local Biodiversity Action Plan initiatives, and the nomadbee, Nomada fulvicornis. Several Nationally Notable species have also been taken, including the specialist heathland mining bee, Andrena nigriceps, along with the bees Andrena bimaculata, Andrena tibialis and Hylaeus pictipes. Another noteworthy species, the median wasp (Dolichovespula media), has also been found on the site. This is a large social wasp, easily mistaken for a small hornet. It was first recorded from Britain in 1980 since when it has spread rapidly. Originally given RDB3 status (Shirt, 1987), this was reduced to Nationally Notable by Falk (1991) and although this remains its official status the median wasp is now quite common across much of England and Wales. Areas of loose, sandy ground, in the patches of open heath that still remain on the site, appear to attract the small grey mining bee, Andrena barbilabris, regarded as “Local” in the country as a whole and likely to be greatly under-recorded in Suffolk.

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 37 (2001)


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