BR. J. ENT. NAT'. MIST., 7: 1994 6J 



of former cultivation and it has been found in some localities on Salisbury Plain. 

 It also seems to flower earlier in the season; for example, in late May 1990, it was 

 in full flower in a site in east Dorset, yet the semi-procumbent form flowered about 

 a month later on Salisbury Plain. 



The difference in flowering periods of the two forms would largely restrict 

 M. dimidiata to the native one. However, in sites where the grassland is mown for 

 hay, plants of the introduced form of O. viciifolia flower again at a time when the 

 bee can benefit from these additional flowers, although such a late flowering of this 

 form is not as prolific as earlier in the season. 



Apparent intermediates between the two strains (which appear in some localities 

 on the Plain) are probably of hybrid stock. At least one farming family (Home Farm, 

 near Cholderton, south of Bulford) has been growing the introduced variant as a 

 seed and fodder crop for about a hundred years (A. Summers, pers. comm.) (sainfoin 

 was mainly used as hay for horses, but the market for this has largely gone and very 

 few farms currently grow the plant). Several commercial varieties of sainfoin have 

 been developed for use on particular soil types. 



Nomada argentata H.-S. (Anthophorinae). This is a rare but widely distributed 

 species in southern England. It has been reported from Kent to east Cornwall, 

 Somerset, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire and has 

 also been found in Eire (Carlow and Leix) (Else, in prep.). In Wiltshire it is currently 

 known only from Figheldean Down, where it was found on 22.vii, 1 and 7.\ iii. 1993. 

 This species, in common with its host Andrena marginata, is extremely local in this 

 site. Although a few specimens of the cleptoparasite were encountered visiting the 

 flowers of small scabious, most (including both sexes) were observed flying low o\ or 

 the bare soil of tracks, the females presumably in search of the nests of A. marginata. 

 Some N. argentata are very dark and can easily be passed over as small species of 

 other aculeate genera. In the British Isles the species flies from mid July to mid 

 September. 



N. armata H.-S. This is a very rare cleptoparasite of the mining bee Andrena 

 hattorfiana. Nationally, this Nomada species has been reported from Kent, the Isle 

 of Wight, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Essex, Norfolk 

 and West Glamorgan (Else, in prep.). It was first recorded in Wiltshire in July 1991 

 when we found a pair (male on 17th and female on the 21st) near Tilshead. We did 

 not encounter it in 1992, but in the following year it was noted by us in the follow ing 

 sites: to the north of Tilshead, 27. vi. and on a few subsequent dates; Great ChevereU 

 Hill, 1, 4 and 7.vii; Bulford, 4 and 7.vii; Figheldean Down, 15.vii; and Weather Hill, 

 20.vii. The Weather Hill specimen was visiting a flower of small scabious; all the 

 others visiting flowers were at field scabious. A specimen was also seen on the east 

 side of the West Lavington road (opposite Horse Down), 1 kilometre north-west of 

 Tilshead, on 16.vii.1993 by R. Gabriel. A total of 35 individuals was encountered 

 in 1993. The most recent British records are from east Dorset (1945 and 194^. 

 Oxfordshire (1968) and Norfolk (1977). The majority of records refer to very small 

 numbers of specimens. An exception was a record of many flying with their host 

 Andrena at Tubney, near Oxford in July, 1900 (Hamm, 1901). Both host and parasite 

 are usually encountered on the flowers of field scabious, less commonly on those 

 of small scabious or unrelated plants. Some females, however, found by us, were 

 flying low over occupied nesting burrows of the host Andrena. Salisbury Plain is 

 undoubtedly the most important locality in Britain for N. armata. Nationally, the 

 flight period extends from late June to the end of July. 



Bombus ruderatus (F.) (Apinae). More than half the number (ten of seventeen) 

 of native species of British bumblebees (excluding the six species of cuckoo 



