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



bee emerged. Indeed the species is proving to be well established over a wide area 

 of Salisbury Plain, and here it is clearly not endangered. The survey also revealed 

 the presence of other scarce bees on Salisbury Plain and should provide a basis 

 on which conservation measures for these can be implemented if considered 

 appropriate in the future. Preliminary results of some of the species encountered 

 are presented below as an annotated list. We plan to continue with this survey in 

 future seasons. 



Scarce bees recorded from the Salisbury Plain, 1949-1993 



Hylaeus cornutus Curt. (Colletinae). This is a rare species, restricted to the 

 south-central and south-eastern counties of England, the range extending from Kent 

 to Dorset, northwards to Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, 

 Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk (Else, in prep.). It has been reported from open, 

 broad-leaved woodland, fenland and chalk grassland. A male of this bee was collected 

 from an oxeye daisy {Leucanthemum vulgare Lam.) flower on Tilshead Down by 

 G. M. Spooner on the 14. vi. 1974. A female was collected from scentless mayweed 

 {Tripleurospermum inodorum Schultz Bip.) blossom on Figheldean Down (between 

 Netheravon and North Tidworth) on 22.vii.1993 by S. P. M. R., and two other females 

 on wild carrot (Daucus carota L.) inflorescences by G. R. E. on Great Cheverell Hill 

 (a chalk downland reserve of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust near West Lavington) on 

 21.viii.1993. These records seem to be the only ones known from the county. The 

 national flight period of this single-brooded species extends from June to August. 



Andrena hattorfiana (F.) (Andreninae). This is one of the largest of British A ndrena 

 species and is widely distributed but very local in southern Britain. Its range extends 

 from east Kent to west Cornwall, northwards to Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Essex, 

 Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk; there are also old records 

 from South and West Glamorgan (Else, in prep.). Until recently there were very few 

 records from Wiltshire. C. H. Andrewes collected single specimens of A. hattorfiana 

 in or near Salisbury on ll.vii.1947 and 31.vii.1948, and from his garden at Coombe 

 Bissett (west of Salisbury) on 25.vii. 1974. One of us (G. R. E.) found many specimens 

 near Easton Royal from 1983 to 1985. Several were also recorded by G. R. Else and 

 M. Edwards on the roadside at Cow Down, north of North Tidworth, on 7.vii. 1985. 

 During the course of our survey we found the bee on seven sites on Salisbury Plain. 

 These are summarized (from west to east) as follows: Great Cheverell Hill, Tilshead 

 (several places), near the Bustard vedette, Bulford, Figheldean Down (including the 

 roadside), Weather Hill (south of Everleigh) and Cow Down. Both sexes are almost 

 exclusively associated with the flowers of field scabious {Knautia arvensis (L.)), a 

 plant characteristic of the grasslands of Salisbury Plain. We have occasionally found 

 individuals visiting small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria L.) (including a female 

 collecting pollen) and greater knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa L.) flowers. Nest burrows 

 of the bee have been found in wheel ruts along a track near Tilshead (these included 

 a small, loose aggregation of five burrows) and another in a soil exposure on the 

 edge of a field. The rarer red-marked form of the female is not uncommon on the 

 Plain, perhaps comprising 30% of the female population in some sites. Nationally, 

 the flight period is from late June to mid August. 



A. marginata F. Males of this species were observed visiting the flowers of small 

 scabious on Figheldean Down on the 14.vii.1993 (apparently the first Wiltshire records 

 of this bee). Females were found here on 19 and 22.vii.1993. Several females were 

 also encountered on roadside flowers of the same species at Weather Hill on 20 and 

 31.vii. This is a rare and local bee, but is very widely distributed in the British Isles, 



