BRECKLAND: Weeting Heath invertebrates

5th August 2017

This is the second installment of Saturdays Breckland day. Having got out of the car we immediately noticed a colony of Pantaloon Bees (Dasypoda hirtipes) behind the car. This particularly delighted Vanna, who had announced she wasn't particularly interested in the plants and had come to look for bees. As we watched them we noticed several flies following the bees - presumably they were brood parasites. At least two solitary wasp species were also present, Cerceris rybensis and one other.

Having signed in and had a look at the helleborines, we went and had a look at the catch from the moth trap. There was a reasonable selection, albeit probably only 30 species, but four of the macro species were new for me, including a very nice Clouded Buff. The other three new ones were Small Waved Umber, Oblique Striped and Square-spotted Clay.

Once the plant walk had begun I took the opportunity when we stopped to check around the bases of Storksbill and Bedstraw plants. The reason for this is that there are several scarce Leatherbugs and Shieldbugs that are only found around the bases of these plants. This searching paid off almost straight away, when I found three Fallen's Leatherbugs. Later on the warden found a different species, which we couldn't identify in the field. It was probably either Breckland Leatherbug (very rare) or Cryptic Leatherbug. I took a few photos, but as it was through a pot they aren't great.

 Fallen's Leatherbug. Like the Heath Assassin Bug seen at Marsham, the camouflage is very good, but once you get your eye in it becomes easier.

 A different Leatherbug sp.

Members of the group found several caterpillars out on the heath. Hummingbird Hawk Moth was a new caterpillar for me, and a sign that it has been a good year for them. The second hawk moth caterpillar of the year appears to be Small Elephant Hawk, another good one.

 Hummingbird Hawkmoth caterpillar

A thistle on the hill held ten Hairy Shieldbugs, including a mating ball.

The highlight of the visit, although I didn't know it at the time, came when we were shown the White Horehound. The warden told us that it was the foodplant of the very rare Horehound Plume moth, the only Norfolk records being a couple seen at Weeting in 1945. As is my routine whenever I see a rare plant after having a look at the flowers I began looking for leaf mines, plant bugs or caterpillars, and I found a small hairy green caterpillar. Nobody knew what the plume caterpillar looked like, so I photographed it to check at home. Lo and behold it was indeed a Horehound Plume (Wheeleria spilodactylus), rediscovered in Norfolk after 72 years!

Several interesting bees were seen, including Melitta haemorrhoidalis feeding from Harebells, a Colletes sp. on Wild Migonette and Ragwort and another all black one that Vanna is hoping to identify. A couple of Adonis Ladybirds complete d the insect interest.

SUFFOLK: Minsmere Pantaloon Bee

29th July 2016

On Friday afternoon Cathy & I headed to Minsmere to see some bees. The weather had been good up until Westleton, when it began to rain. Arriving at Minsmere the rain was heavy, and no self-respecting insects were likely to be out and about. We headed for the cafe for some cake, and luckily the rain subsided. Our first stop was the Ant-lion pits near the visitors centre. This rare insect has a seldom-seen adult form like a large lacewing, but is best known from its larvae. These are large grub-like creatures with powerful jaws, that construct small pits in sandy soil and eat invertebrates that slide down into their pits. There were no suitable prey-items wandering around today, but as we looked across the sandy soil Cathy spotted one flicking sand out of its pit. In the end we saw four, all doing the same thing.

We took the path towards the north wall to look for our main target, the Pantaloon Bee. This slightly whimsical name has understandably taken over from Hairy-legged Bee, and the discovery of some alongside the path at Minsmere had proved popular with recent visitors. It is only the females that have the hairy legs, and we only found one - aptly excavating a burrow right up against a sign telling visitors to look out for them. We watched her repeatedly backing out of her hole before dashing back in again.

There were lots of bee/wasp holes nearby, and it appeared that most of them were occupied by Bee-wolves. I had first seen this species in the castle gardens in Norwich several years ago, although in a brief visit this year it appeared that their habitat had grown up too much (they need bare soil to burrow into). Whilst watching them, a Sand-tailed Digger Wasp flew in and landed on my hand - perhaps my tan makes me look temptingly sandy. We then watched a digger wasp excavating the entrance to its burrow, so furiously that at times it was almost flinging the whole body over its head.

 Bee-Wolf

We decided to walk as far as the sea, stopping to look at the tame but often myxamotis-looking Rabbits and Cinnabar caterpillars. Despite the recent rain I was surprised that this part of the reserve was almost deserted, which was slightly ironic given the increased visitor numbers from Sunday. We saw lots of Six-spot Burnet Moths, a Common Scoter and 12 Gannet before returning back to the car.