I have to visit Hartland Moor at least once a year, as I've said before, there is just so much to see if you like invertebrates. I managed to see three new species of bee and one new species of wasp (kind of... more on that later) along with most of the usuals.
Hartland Moor habitat.
Firstly, no trip to Hartland Moor in the summer would be complete without photographing the beautiful Silver-Studded Blue - Plebejus argus.
BEES
Hairy-saddled Colletes - Colletes fodiens
New for me were:
Small Sandpit Mining Bee - Andrena argentata.
I didn't get very good photos of this which is an excellent excuse to go back next year. Like I need one!
This is a cuckoo bee which attacks the nests of Colletes species. In this case several were investigating the nest of a Hairy-Saddled Colletes - Colletes fodiens as the following video clips show.
Finally here's a video showing a Small Velvet Ant - Smicromyrme rufipes a species I was particularly on the lookout for. It appears on the right hand side and wanders across top corner of the frame. This occurred when I was in the middle of trying to get some video footage of bee nests, so it's just a case of a photobombing Small velvet Ant. They are very small, averaging just 6mm long and I didn't see it at the time, only spotting it when reviewing my video footage later. So really it doesn't count does it? Oh well, another good excuse for a return visit. What's not to like about that!
No comments:
Post a Comment