Wight Bumblees: Osmia aurulenta

Showing posts with label Osmia aurulenta. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 April 2015

A Tiny Piece of Spring Colour.

Spring has definitely arrived now and solitary bees are out in numbers and pollinating all the fresh new blooms.One bee that is unmistakable is the colourful Gold-fringed Mason Bee,Osmia aurulenta.

Friday, 18 April 2014

Gold-fringed Mason Bee

The Isle of Wight has an abundance of chalk downland and this mason bee,Qsmia aurulenta,is found here and all along the southern coasts of England and Wales.

This small bee is seen from April to August and is well known for nesting in old snail shells.

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

Thursday, 16 April 2015

A Tiny Piece of Spring Colour.

Friday, 18 April 2014

Gold-fringed Mason Bee