Pantaloon Bees and Bee Wolves at Minsmere RSPB!

Having admired the many photographs of Pantaloon Bees at Minsmere RSPB doing the rounds on Twitter over the past few weeks, I was longing to see these interesting insects for myself.

Sadly, at over 4 hours away, Suffolk was just a tad too far to travel just to get my fix of quirkily named bees (if they had been referred to as Hairy Legged Mining Bees I don’t think I’d have been anywhere near as smitten with them) and it looked like any chance to see them would be off the cards. Luckily for me, the stars aligned at the beginning of August when a Purple Swamphen touched down at Minsmere, positively forcing me to take a day off mid-week to go and see it and offering the perfect chance to simultaneously search for these fascinating bees.

With the Swamphen safely under our belts, we headed over to the sandy patches of ground along the North Wall where the Pantaloon Bees had been seen, a helpful member of RSPB staff on hand to guide visitors and help identify any bees or wasps.

After a long wait searching in the cloudy weather, a number of other interesting bees and wasps buzzing around to keep us occupied, we eventually struck it lucky with a single Pantaloon Bee, busy excavating a burrow in the sandy ground, the thick bristly hairs on the back legs getting caked with sand as it scurried backwards through the substrate before scraping it off revealing the beautiful furry hairs underneath.

It is only the female bees that have woolly “pantaloon” legs as they are the ones that sweep away the sand creating burrows in which to lay their eggs.

Truly fascinating creatures and the only species of Hairy Legged Mining Bee in the UK, we were totally captivated as we watched her dig out her burrow again and again, backing out of the entrance hole before dashing back in each time – amazing!!

The majority of sandy burrows on the slope were also occupied by the ferocious sounding Bee Wolf – fearsome wasps that predate on the Honey Bees in the area, paralysing them and carrying them back to their nests in a rather menacing fashion.

Looking carefully, the Bee Wolves carry the Honey Bees in such a way that if they attempt to sting back, only the armoured part of the Bee Wolf’s body is presented.

Once stored in the burrow, the females will then lay an egg on the paralysed bee, ensuring the hatched larva has a sufficient food supply when it emerges. We saw several eyes peeking out of the occupied burrows, and these extensive tunnels can often hold up to 6 immobilised Honey Bees in chambers ready for the young wasp larvae to feed upon.

For anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to experience these delightful and quirky bees themselves, a trip to Minsmere in sunny weather next summer is definitely recommended! 

Lesser Twayblades - Cliburn Moss, Cumbria (6th June 2015)

After spending the morning at Sandscale Haws back at the beginning of June, the afternoon was spent making the journey over to Cliburn Moss near Penrith to see if the Lesser Twayblades were still flowering. Having visited the reserve on numerous occasions before in search of both the Creeping Lady’s Tresses that grow there and the Lesser Twayblades, I was already well familiar with the site, and quickly found my way to the area the orchids were flowering in after following some excellent directions that were absolutely spot on.

I quickly spotted several individuals in front of a Silver Birch, with another few plants scattered around in roughly a five metre area away from the tree – like the Coralroots it was simply a case of getting your eye in to spot them all. As is usually the case with orchids, once you spot one, there are usually several more in the immediate vicinity.

Absolutely tiny in size, each plant was no more than 10cm and due to the coppery-brown colouration that blended in so well with the pine needle covered floor and the fact many plants had their leaves eaten away, they were very tricky to spot indeed.

There's a Lesser Twayblade in here somewhere......

I’ve had a grid reference to the spot the Lesser Twayblades were flowering in on my previous visit, but being slightly too late that time and not heading far enough in to the trees where the plants seemed to grow best amongst, we sadly didn’t spot any on that occasion.

With two distinct leaves at the base, Lesser Twayblades are like miniature versions of the larger and much more abundant Common Twayblade – the double basal leaf structure is distinctive of these two species.

The two leaves at the base are clear to see

Each rust coloured flower column also had numerous individual florets in the shape of tiny elves – amazingly dainty and exceptionally fragile in miniature form!

Another northerly orchid with populations found in abundance throughout the upland heather moors of Scotland, plants can also be found growing in suitable habitat in North and mid-Wales as well as the northern English counties, with some populations also occurring in wet woodland and native pinewoods (like Cliburn).  

Usually found growing actually underneath heather bushes in some cases, it was also a relief that the flowers were standing proudly out in the open! Lesser Twayblade is a species I have wanted to see for some time, and it was great to see them at their best before the flowers went over.