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So I proceeded to Hampstead Heath yesterday for yet another unsuccessful hunt for chafer beetles.
However, it wasn't all bad; I had the foresight to bring a camera, and because spring is now in full swing, the Heath had loads of solitary and some social bees!
( Three cheers for the bees who do things their own way! )
My personal favourite solitary bee is Anthophora plumipes - the females are round and black and busy, while the males are silly and ginger and very territorial, so if you're watching some females foraging (their favourite flowers include the dead-nettle Lamium album) you often find a small ginger thing flying at you in what he perceives to be a threatening manner, but is mostly just cute.
In any case, they're an early-spring species, hitting their peak around March and April. It now being mid-spring, a different selection of bees are around.
( Photos from Hampstead Heath )
PS If any of you who live in the UK do happen to come across any Phyllopertha horticola or Hoplia philanthus in the next couple of months, please put them in a little tub or pot (like a film tub, but put some air-holes in) and send them to me! I'll happily refund your postage and provide chocolate or a small cash recompense up until the point where I have enough beetles!
The beetles are about 1cm long and quite chunky, and both species look pretty similar, something like this - that's P. horticola; H. philanthus is a bit less shiny.
However, it wasn't all bad; I had the foresight to bring a camera, and because spring is now in full swing, the Heath had loads of solitary and some social bees!
( Three cheers for the bees who do things their own way! )
My personal favourite solitary bee is Anthophora plumipes - the females are round and black and busy, while the males are silly and ginger and very territorial, so if you're watching some females foraging (their favourite flowers include the dead-nettle Lamium album) you often find a small ginger thing flying at you in what he perceives to be a threatening manner, but is mostly just cute.
In any case, they're an early-spring species, hitting their peak around March and April. It now being mid-spring, a different selection of bees are around.
( Photos from Hampstead Heath )
PS If any of you who live in the UK do happen to come across any Phyllopertha horticola or Hoplia philanthus in the next couple of months, please put them in a little tub or pot (like a film tub, but put some air-holes in) and send them to me! I'll happily refund your postage and provide chocolate or a small cash recompense up until the point where I have enough beetles!
The beetles are about 1cm long and quite chunky, and both species look pretty similar, something like this - that's P. horticola; H. philanthus is a bit less shiny.
