Spent last Saturday on the grounds of Chiswick House surveying the local bee population. The day was a joint effort of the London Natural History Society and the Biological Recording Company to start assembling a list of invertebrate species on the site. In the morning we explored the grassland margins and in the afternoon we looked at the formal kitchen garden. In all about 20 recorders were present covering many different invertebrate species. The Bee group was led by Tony Madgwick, the Bee recorder for London. I have done quite a bit of Bumblebee recording but my knowledge of Solitary Bees of which there are far more species is limited, so it was very interesting to work alongside Tony and to gain some insights into the identification of these species. In all, I recorded 12 species of Bees on the site including a number that I hadn’t seen close up or recorded before. These included the Bryony Bee, the Orange-tailed Mining Bee and the Ashy Mining Bee.
We also recorded 5 species of Nomad Bees, which are parasitic bees which lay their eggs in the nests of the mining bees. Other species recorded included Western Honey Bee, Common Carder Bee, Buff/White-tailed bumblebee and Hairy-footed Flower-bee.
Other invertebrates recorded included: Dark-Edged Bee-Fly; Butterflies (Brimstone, Small white, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood); Blue-tailed Damselfly; 7 spot ladybird and some Wolf Spiders plus a Crab Spider.
A very enjoyable day, with some great records and new species.
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