BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: 1994 61 



ranging from Kent to west Cornwall, northwards to Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire 



and Norfolk; it is known too from Wales, central Scotland and southern I 



in prep.). The species is mainly associated with scabious flowers: small scabious, 



devil's-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis Moench) and field scabious. The flight 



period in the British Isles of this single-brooded species is from mid July to late 



September. 



A. nitidiuscula (Schck). This is a very local bee in Britain, known from East Sussex 

 to east Devon (and including the Isle of Wight), Surrey and Berkshire (Else, in prep. ). 

 It has been mainly found on the coast, but is also known from heathland and open, 

 broad-leaved woodland. The bee is associated with the flowers of various species of 

 Apiaceae. The first Wiltshire record was a female found by S. P. M. R. near Tilshead 

 on 19.viii.1991. In July and early August, 1993, a thriving nesting aggregation of 

 this bee was observed by us on an exposed track on Figheldean Down. Females foraged 

 nearby on wild carrot blossom; some males visited yellow Asteraceae flowers. A pair 

 was found in copula on the ground within the nesting area on 7.viii. In Britain the 

 species is single-brooded and is active from the end of June to early September. 



Interestingly, many Nomada rufipes F. were observed in the vicinity of this nesting 

 aggregation, but not elsewhere on the Down. It seems possible that this Nomada is 

 a cleptoparasite of A. nitidiuscula in this site. This association has not previously been 

 suspected. The nationally endangered TV. errans Lepeletier is a known cleptoparasite 

 of A. nitidiuscula in Britain (though the former is only known in this country from 

 a single site on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset). TV. rufipes is considered to be a 

 cleptoparasite of certain species in the Andrena fuscipes (Kirby) group, to which A. 

 nitidiuscula does not belong. On heaths and moors it attacks A. fuscipes (Evans, 1906; 

 Frisby, 1906), but elsewhere it seems to be associated with A. denticulata (Kirby) 

 (Perkins, 1918, 1919; Chambers, 1949; Spooner, pers. comm.) and A. nigriceps (Kirby) 

 (Swale, 1893; Jones, 1928; Chambers, 1949). None of these A ndrena species has been 

 recorded on Figheldean Down. However, A. simillima Smith, F., a close relathe of 

 A. nigriceps, does occur in this site in small numbers. 



A. simillima Smith, F. This is another very scarce bee with a restricted range in 

 Britain. It has mainly been found in east Kent (Folkestone Warren), south-east Devon 

 and Cornwall. In addition there are old, unconfirmed records from the Isle of Wight, 

 Suffolk and Norfolk (Else, in prep.). Inland sites are very unusual; the only ones 

 known to us, prior to our survey, were in Dorset (Morden, 1928) and Hampshire 

 (Abbotstone Down, near Alresford, 1985). The bee is mainly associated with flowers 

 of Asteraceae, including thistles, knapweeds, scentless mayweed and common ragwort 

 (Senecio jacobaea L.). S. P. M. R. found a male A. simillima on Figheldean Down 

 on ll.vii.1993, followed by further single records of females on 14 and 22.vii, and 

 l.viii. Finally, G. R. E. found two females in the same site on 7.\iii; one was visiting 

 a flower of greater knapweed, the other scentless mayweed. Nationally, the bee flies 

 as a single brood from early July to August. 



Melitta dimidiata Mor. (Melittinae). This, the largest of the four British Melitta 

 species, was first found in Britain near Tilshead by P. W. E. Currie on 9.vii.l949 

 (Baker, 1965). According to D. B. Baker (pers. comm.) the site was close to White 

 Barrow, a neolithic long-barrow on Tilshead Down to the south of the village. Baker 

 has also encountered the species on the barrow and, on numerous visits from Wt>4 

 to 1989, found the bee on the adjacent grassland and at Yarrow's site (see below). 

 In the 1970s the custodians of White Barrow, The National Trust, attempted to control 

 scrub invasion on the ancient monument by erecting a fence around it and introducing 

 a flock of sheep. The sheep succeeded in eradicating both scrub and sainfoin, the 

 latter being the sole pollen source of this bee! 



