Tags
BWARS, importance of ivy to late summer insects, Ivy bee, ivy flowers, small bee on ivy flowers, solitary bees
I know our native evergreen climbing ivy can be a pain in a garden, but at this time of year when it’s flowering it is a magnet to a wide variety of late-flying insects. To one particular little bee that has set up residency here in Great Britain in recent years, it is vital.
October 6th
It’s always exciting to see a ‘new-to-you (or me) species on your own patch and this week I had my first sightings of a little solitary bee I have only recently become aware of. It is commonly named the Ivy bee, as its emergence is set to coincide with the flowering time of yes, you guessed, the common but invaluable to late flying insects Ivy or Hedera helix, on which it feeds.
Ivy bees are found in Austria, Belgium, Channel Islands, Croatia, Cyprus,France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland and are recent arrivals in Great Britain, but spreading and establishing fast.
BWARS – The Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society has been mapping the spread of the Ivy bee since its discovery in Britain 15 years ago. They say:
Colletes hederae was recorded as new to Britain in 2001 when Ian Cross discovered specimens at Langton Matravers in Dorset. Since then, the bee has spread across much of southern England (as far north as Shropshire, Staffordshire & Norfolk) and into south Wales. It is now extremely plentiful in some coastal localities, and increasingly, inland. Peak activity matches the flowering period of its key pollen forage plant, Ivy (Hedera helix), and the species is on the wing from early September until early November. This makes it the last solitary bee species to emerge each year.
Where to find them
Ivy bees like patches of flowering ivy in sunny spots, often in gardens.They look like small honeybees but have an orange-yellow striped abdomen and a furry ginger thorax, so they are quite noticeable as they bustle over the green balls of ivy blossom. If there is a nest site nearby you may see several of them on the flowers at any one time.
Unlike the larger honeybee, which is a social insect and has queens, drones and workers, the ivy bee is solitary. They are mining bees and after mating, a female Ivy bee digs out a burrow in loose earth or sand, and creates underground chambers. She then lays several eggs which she stocks with pollen to provide food for the larvae when they hatch. Although each female ivy bee digs her own burrow, tens or even hundreds of females nest close together in colonies, usually on sandy banks.
As with many insects, the mating process may be a brutal affair. Male bees wait by the burrows for females to return, then ambush them. Many males may attempt to mate with a single female in their quest to sire the next generation, forming a writhing mass – or mating ball. The female dies a few weeks after mating and laying her eggs, but the larvae pupate and become adults, staying underground until autumn, emerging to repeat the cycle.
theresagreen said:
Ha ha, thank you, if not it won’t be from lack of my trying. I’m happy you found stuff that interested you on my blogs. I think we share a similar passion for just about anything and everything we encounter in our respective environments – I could never specialise, could you?
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Nature on the Edge said:
Lovely, the new baby granddaughter is sure to become a budding naturalist with such talent in the family.
Had a good browse around tonight and enjoy the ‘wild’ stuff you post here. From checking out trees and birds, and then orchids i landed up in Andalucia … love the diversity of your blog, Theresa.
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theresagreen said:
Thank you. They are smart little insects aren’t they and one that no-one seems to have any objections to in their taking up residence here, which makes a pleasant change. You’re absolutely right, I was looking out for nesting colonies, then found one completely serendipitously whilst out walking with my new baby granddaughter!
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Nature on the Edge said:
A most interesting post, and to note this species spread into GB. It’s a handsome looking little species and i enjoyed reading the informative and descriptive text. Interesting to learn about solitary bees and their functions. Guess you’ll be on the look out for their nesting colonies, Theresa?
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theresagreen said:
I hope you get to see some before the season ends Paul – I gather they have spread quite widely across the country, particularly around the coasts as they like sandy soil to mine into. Sorry about the headline – it was intended as a play on the words, be(e) & (maybe), not an alternative name!Rather tenuous I know!
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Steve Schwartzman said:
Along similar lines, we can create an initialism for this insect and refer to it as an IVB.
I expect the members of BWARS must BEWARE some of the insects they pursue.
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theresagreen said:
Smart thinking. I’ll remember the IVB – that’ll come in handy for short-handing my future field notes! You’re absolutely right about the insect chasers too; on a serious note the organisation aims to not only advise us of those to beware of as they could fight back, but also, more importantly those to be be aware of as we’re rapidly wiping them out.
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Paul Seligman said:
Not found one yet – not sure if headline is a pun or an alternative name?
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theresagreen said:
Thank you for bringing them to my attention in the first instance Emily! As it turned out they were right under my nose – well, almost, maybe a metre from my daughter’s front door! I did find that the bees came and went, not staying long each visit, perhaps responding to nectar output by the flowers and it would have been easy to miss them. The BWARS map may show if they’ve been recorded in your area.
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Emily Scott said:
Well done for finding them. I’ve been looking and spotted lots of honey bees and wasps on the ivy but no ivy bees.
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Patricia Tilton said:
How unfair for the Ivy Bee — too mate, lay her eggs and die a few weeks later. Never heard of them before today. They are tiny. And your close-up photographs are simply beautiful. I learned something new today.
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theresagreen said:
This was a ‘new’ bee to me too until this year Pat, so I’ve just learned about them too. I agree it does seem sad that the bees seem to have such a short life, as do many insects. Perhaps they live on a different time scale to us? We equate a year of life for us as seven for a dog, so maybe a few weeks is a long life to a tiny insect!
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Patricia Tilton said:
Interesting comment on life cycles.
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