Backyard Insects.

[nomad]

Backyard Insects.

Often in the UK you get nice but very blustery weather In March and it makes for rather difficult photography, but if you find a nice sheltered spot, you should manage a few decent results. Here are a few insects that I found the other day in my Town backyard. We have had the thread backyard butterflies but don't forget all those other insects that occur there ! Here are some I found recently in my backyard.

Anthophora plumipes. Solitary Bee.



Andrena bicolor or related species, a small solitary Bee.

Bombus pratorum.

Hoverfly Syrphus torvus. Top, male, Bottom Female.

Hoverfly Meliscaeva auricollis. Hibernates as an adult.

Bee-fly mimic. Bombylius major.

[nomad]

Solitary bees and their Parasites.

In a local urban park I watched a Bombylius discolor female hover over a Bee colony of the genus Andrena, dropping her eggs near the ground nesting solitary bee holes. The larvae of the bee-fly when they hatch, journey to the nests, those that survive, enter and these parasitoids then feed on the food store, as well as the young solitary bees or wasps. All images 2017 unless otherwise stated.

Female Bombylius discolor egg-laying. The Andrena solitary bee holes are at the top of the photograph.

Andrena solitary Bee species being utilized by B. discolor above.

Not far from the solitary Bee colony, were the wasp like Gooden's Nomad bees, Nomada goodeniana, which is another parasite of Andrena species, the eggs of this species being laid in the solitary bees nests where the larvae feed on the pollen store. The nomanda bees are sometimes called Cuckoo bees.



Nomada goodeniana

In another nearby urban green space last spring,I found another species of this genus, Fabricius' Nomad Bee - Nomada fabriciana, this species utilizes the solitary bee Andrena bicolor and occasionally other species such as Andrena haemorrhoa.

Nomada fabriciana

Early Mining Bee, Andrena haemorrhoa.