Hi all. Does anyone know where I could possibly obtain the following papers,
either as hard copy or pdf?

Barrett, K.E.J. 1968a. A survey of the distribution and present status of the
wood ant, Formica rufa L. (Hym., Formicidae) in England and Wales.

Collingwood, C.A., and Barrett, K.E.J. 1964. The identification and distribution
of British ants. 2. The vice-county distribution of indigenous ants in the
British Isles.

Many thanks,
Alan

Hi everyone, I have been studying these wasps this year and i have set a few
specimens. I  wondered if anyone would be able to identify them for me?  I am in
Bournemouth Dorset but would be willing to post, all the best, Jerry

Hi guys,

just using the wet weather as a reason to catch up on admin and found an
unidentified bee (?) from last April.

I have uploaded it into Martins Pics folder, does anyone have any ideas. Can't
even get close in my books.

Many thanks, Martin

Hi antpeople does anyone know of any forthcoming ant ID workshops? There doesn't
seem to any listed for 2010 on the BWARS website.

cheers

Adrian

Oops. I've got completely embroiled in work in the last month and it slipped my
mind to report on the poll. Sorry!

The result of the ant poll was that 8/10 people voted for Lasius fuliginosus,
the correct species. The other two votes were for Formica fusca and Tapinoma
erraticum - both reasonable mistakes. The glossy black colour and large
heart-shaped head mark it as L. fuliginosus (aka the 'jet-black' ant). The head
shape is much more slender(?) in Formica species. I can see the reasoning for
the Tapinoma vote, especially since there is no sense of scale in the image. In
life Tapinoma is of course much smaller and very different in movement, being
very fast and nervous compared with the rather plodding fuliginosus. It also
doesn't have the pronounced scale on its petiole that all the formicines have.

Will try to do another poll next week, work willing. Of course, anyone else is
welcome to try one.

Cheers

Andrew

--- In bwars@yahoogroups.com, "Adrian" <adrian.knowles@...> wrote:
>
> What has happened to the polls?  Did we get an answer to the ant one?
> More!
>

Adrian - The result is available on the 'Polls' link.  I did not get the crucial
message delivered in the usual way to my mailbox either, but found it on the
Group pages.

Murdo

Read about the Highland Ant Atlas scheme at www.hbrg.org.uk.

What has happened to the polls?  Did we get an answer to the ant one?
More!

Dear Jean,
Reading you loud and clear!
These are really tricky if not impossible to do from photos.  There is a
Handbook produced by the Royal Entomological Society (vol6  part 5) for
cuckoo-wasps.  What would others say to a possible diagnosis as Elampus panzeri
or a species of Omalus?


--- In bwars@yahoogroups.com, "jungle4042" <jean@...> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> I am very new to this service. I have some photos of the two wasps mentioned
above. Both were found in my conservatory in Devon in August. Is there anyone
out there who could identify them for me? Or could anyone supply a key for, at
least the Chrysid wasp. My photos seem to have got put in an album called
"Stinging Sawfly". I have no idea why!
>
> Could someone respond even if they are not able to help with ID so that I know
that I am really  communicating in the correct way with the group.
>
> Many thanks,
>

Dear All,

I am very new to this service. I have some photos of the two wasps mentioned
above. Both were found in my conservatory in Devon in August. Is there anyone
out there who could identify them for me? Or could anyone supply a key for, at
least the Chrysid wasp. My photos seem to have got put in an album called
"Stinging Sawfly". I have no idea why!

Could someone respond even if they are not able to help with ID so that I know
that I am really  communicating in the correct way with the group.

Many thanks,

Dear All,

I am very new to this service. I have some photos of the two wasps mentioned
above. Both were found in my conservatory in Devon in August. Is there anyone
out there who could identify them for me? Or could anyone supply a key for, at
least the Chrysid wasp. My photos seem to have got put in an album called
"Stinging Sawfly". I have no idea why!

Could someone respond even if they are not able to help with ID so that I know
that I am really  communicating in the correct way with the group.

Many thanks,

----- Original Message -----

From: Steve Farmer

To: bwars@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 8:59 PM

Subject: [bwars] Late autumn bumblebee activity

 

Hallo Stuart and other bumblebee watchers

The continuing very mild late autumn weather has produced some intersting bumblebee sightings recently.

At Windsor Great Park on 4 Nov there were two B.pratorum workers on Rhododendron pachysanthum. This is a very early Rhodo. and is now in full flower and completely undamaged by any frost. On 12 Nov there were two B.pratorum workers again on the same rhodo. and also a queen. All three were collecting pollen and nectar. So there is already one nest established and a queen preparing to establish another. Incidentally this is the same Rhodo, where B.pratorum workers were seen in mid-winter in two previous winters.

On 12 Nov one queen B.hypnorum was seen warming up in the sunshine on the trunk of a large Scots Pine. A couple of minutes later another B.hypnorum queen was seen collecting pollen and nectar on Rhodo. pachysanthum. She was still foraging there 90 minutes later when we returned past the same bush. As she was collecting pollen it is likely that she will attempt to establish a nest soon. This is the first time I seen B.hypnorum in November.

There are quite a lot of B.terrestis queens about - a few collecting pollen - and a few workers. There are still a few B.pascuorum workers still around but their numbers are declining.

Steve Farmer
21:00 Tuesday 17 Nov 2009
__________________________________

Hallo Stuart and other bumblebee watchers

The continuing very mild late autumn weather has produced some intersting
bumblebee sightings recently.

At Windsor Great Park on 4 Nov there were two B.pratorum workers on Rhododendron
pachysanthum.  This is a very early Rhodo. and is now in full flower and
completely undamaged by any frost.   On 12 Nov there were two B.pratorum workers
again on the same rhodo. and also a queen.  All three were collecting pollen and
nectar.  So there is already one nest established and a queen preparing to
establish another.  Incidentally this is the same Rhodo, where B.pratorum
workers were seen in mid-winter in two previous winters.

On 12 Nov one queen B.hypnorum was seen warming up in the sunshine on the trunk
of a large Scots Pine.  A couple of minutes later another B.hypnorum queen was
seen collecting pollen and nectar on Rhodo. pachysanthum.  She was still
foraging there 90 minutes later when we returned past the same bush.  As she was
collecting pollen it is likely that she will attempt to establish a nest soon. 
This is the first time I seen B.hypnorum in November.

There are quite a lot of B.terrestis queens about - a few collecting pollen -
and a few workers.  There are still a few B.pascuorum workers still around but
their numbers are declining.

Steve Farmer
21:00 Tuesday 17 Nov 2009
__________________________________

Thanks for the reply Andrew. I did not see more than one Ancistrocerus at one
time, and had the impression that the same wasp was making repeat visits. I will
try and mark the wasp next time. It unwrapped the caterpillar before taking it
(visible in one of the photos). On one occasion I disturbed the wasp while
photographing it. It released the caterpillar and did not retrieve it. I think
this is a typical response to interference and reduces the chance of being
parasitised.

Nick


--- In bwars@yahoogroups.com, "asgrace4" <asgrace4@...> wrote:
>
> Very interesting Nick,
>
>
>
> I posted a photo of an Ancistrocerus 'chewing' rolled up portions of Purple
Toadflax several years ago. I think it was A. trifasciatus but cannot find my
notes at the moment. The wasp kept visiting the same patch of this plant over
days but I could not figure out what was happening. There is a Toadflax moth and
perhaps the wasp had located a food supply. Richards' Handbook mentions small
caterpillars as prey items.
>
> Does the wasp take a caterpillar still wrapped in its' plant covering?
Presumably not.  Also, would more than one female wasp visit such a source of
provisions for their nests?
>
> Best Wishes
>
> Andrew
>

Hello all,

I know it isn't easy from photo's but can anyone confirm that Nomada in the
photo here :

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bwars/photos/album/1637505354/pic/list

is likely to be Nomada flava ?

Thanks,

Steve :-)

Very interesting Nick,



I posted a photo of an Ancistrocerus 'chewing' rolled up portions of Purple
Toadflax several years ago. I think it was A. trifasciatus but cannot find my
notes at the moment. The wasp kept visiting the same patch of this plant over
days but I could not figure out what was happening. There is a Toadflax moth and
perhaps the wasp had located a food supply. Richards' Handbook mentions small
caterpillars as prey items.

Does the wasp take a caterpillar still wrapped in its' plant covering?
Presumably not.  Also, would more than one female wasp visit such a source of
provisions for their nests?

Best Wishes

Andrew

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8354000/8354788.stm

Great footage from the BBC series Life.

Alan

I have posted three photos of Ancistrocerus sp (identified by Tim
Strudwick)taken at Weybourne North Norfolk in August. It was extracting a
caterpillar rolled up in leaves of lesser knapweed (Centaurea nigra). Before
beginning chewing the leaf-roll open the wasp paced up and down the intact
rolled leaf rapidly several times(first photo). I saw this behaviour on two
occasions on the same clump of knapweed. Can anyone inform me whether this
behaviour is a means of detecting the presence, size or orientation of the
caterpillar? It occurred to me that the same wasp was probably re-visiting the
same clump of knapweed each day. Perhaps it was assessing caterpillars at known
spots and only removing caterpillars once they had reached suitable size?

Thanks Alan

Yes it probably had been dead a while. I thought maybe D.sylvestris but the very
red clypeus confused me and I thought it might be something else. I will keep
the specimen anyway.

Thanks again

Jon

--- In bwars@yahoogroups.com, "Alan Phillips" <norwegica@...> wrote:
>
> Looks like a species of Dolichovespula, and my tentative guess would be
Dolichovespula sylvestris. The colouring is slighty strange - could it have been
dead a while?. There have been some unusually late Dolichovespula this year.
I've recorded both D. sylvestris and D. saxonica queens in the last couple of
weeks in Lincolnshire.
>
> Cheers,
> Alan
>
> --- In bwars@yahoogroups.com, "jon.mortin" <jon.mortin@> wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone tell me what this is - photos in "jon's wasps" album. I found it
dead indoors in Derbyshire last week. Doesn't match anything in my id guides.
> >
>

Hi Nico,

Thanks for the quick reply. No I did not look for eggs so it's just a guess from
the position of the bee. It stayed in this position for quite a few seconds.
Maybe it was ready to lay but could find no suitable host nest, so just dumped
it in the sand?

Nick

--- In bwars@yahoogroups.com, Nicolas Vereecken <nicovereecken@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi Nick,
>
> Have you actually observed the egg in the sand after this unusual
> behavioural sequence? Or is it just a guess from the position of the
> bee?
>
> These cuckoos generally lay eggs directly onto the brood cell of their
> Colletes hosts, sometimes between the layers of the cellophane-like
> membrane of the cells.
>
> Nico
>
> Le 10-nov.-09 à 15:54, nick.owens86 a écrit :
>
> > I photographed this cuckoo of Colletes succinctus on Kelling Heath,
> > North Norfolk in August(see photo posted). It appears to be
> > ovipositing into loose sand, which was below the nest-holes of its
> > host in a sandy bank. It was also seen inspecting and entering host
> > nest holes. I am wondering if this behaviour is typical - ie it lays
> > near potential host nest holes, then the small larva crawls into the
> > holes after hatching. Does anyone have any information about this?
> >
>