Wight Bumblees: In my Local Copse.

Wednesday 3 September 2014

In my Local Copse.

The warm and sunny weather returned today and many insects were enjoying the drifts of Common Fleabane,Pulicara dysenterica, that are now covering the open paths of my local copse.

The Honeybee,Apis mellifera,in particular, is fond of fleabane and they were out in force collecting 'basket fulls' of pollen.Known as the Western or European Honeybee it is our only native honeybee species.

Several bumblebee species were also out and about including the Red-tailed Bumblebee on Field Scabious and Thistle.The following photographs show a male Red-tailed,Bombus lapidarius.

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In the UK there are twenty four species of bumblebee but only eight are commonly found in most places.Bumblebees occupy a variety of habitats and most of us should be able to attract them to our gardens if we have the right kinds of flowering plants.

On the Isle of Wight eleven species have been recorded including the eight ommon ones which are Tree,Garden,Heath,Red-tailed,White-tailed,Common Carder,Early,and Buff-tailed.There are also records of three much less encountered species,the Field Cuckoo,the Vestal Cuckoo, and the Hill Cuckoo.

These latter three are parasitic bumblebees that lay their eggs in other species nests and then kill the resident queen.The occupants of the nest then rear the cuckoos' offspring unaware that it is not their own species.

There are over two hundred species of solitary bee in the UK and most can be very difficult to tell apart.

They are so named because they do not live in colonies, unlike bumblebees and honeybees.Their nests range from hollow plant stems to holes in cliffs,walls,and in the ground.

All solitary bees are first class pollinators and should be made welcome in our gardens.

Title Photo

Wednesday 3 September 2014

In my Local Copse.

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