25(j [November, 



SPHECODES RUBICUNDUS AND OTHER BEES NEAR DOVER. 

 BY F. "W. L. SLADEN. 



At the edge of our carriage drive there is a short perpendicular 

 grassy bank ; it faces south-west, receiving the full rays of the sun 

 during the best part of the day, and this perhaps makes it a specially 

 favourite spot with the bees. 



The first of these which I noticed this spring on the bank were 

 the males of Andrena nigrocenea. These were soon followed by their 

 mates, which, during the middle and end of May, were busy excavating 

 and carrying pollen to their burrows. A. labialis also nidificates in 

 the bank, but this insect was not so abundant as A. nigrocenea. 



On May 20th, or thereabouts, the males of Eucera longicornis 

 began to appear, and in a few days the bank was covered with them, 

 hovering about, searching for their companions which had not yet 

 emerged. As evening advanced, or during cool and cloudy days, they 

 might be found collected in large numbers on the buds and under the 

 leaves of a garden poppy growing in a flower bed close by. 



It was on May 23rd, when the bank was swarming with the Eucera 

 males, that I first noticed hovering about them one or two males of a 

 Sphecodes. No Sphecodes males had been observed in England previous 

 to this before July or August. I sent a specimen to Mr. Saunders, 

 and he named it S. ruhicundus. This bee, though found on the 

 Continent, is a new species to Britain. The interest, however, did 

 not end here. Without doubt the bank was the breeding place of the 

 novelty, and as there has always been a difference of opinion as to 

 whether the genus Sphecodes has inquiline habits or not, it seemed to 

 be a favourable place in which to get light on the subject. 



On June 15th, being a very bright day, I set myself to watch the 

 bank. The Sphecodes males were getting scarce, and it was some time 

 before 1 caught sight of one ; like those I had noticed on previous 

 days he was evidently searching for a female, for he hovered about in 

 the same manner as the Eucera males. I soon discovered a female in 

 the grass. She ran about investigating the holes, and in one or two 

 burrows she remained a little while. Unfortunately I was unable to 

 ascertain whether the burrows were those of Eucera or Andrena, but 

 that they were not formed by the Sphecodes herself I have not the 

 least doubt. 



I did not have another opportunity of watching the movements 

 of the Sphecodes, awd soon after this they disappeared altogether from 

 the bank. Besides the Eucera females no other bees ajipeared on the 

 bank during the rest of the summer. 



