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2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the first record of Bombus
hypnorum as a British insect. In tat time we have been able to plot the
spread on a yearly basis thanks to the efforts of a large group of dedicated
naturalists, gardeners, photographers, bombologists and mammal recorders.
The 2011 Bombus hypnorum season is now in full swing after a very
early start to proceedings with workers being common in many places.
I hope that we can continue to monitor the spread of this distinctive
species as it seems to march inexorably onwards. I wonder if we will see our
first Scottish record? Or even records from Man or Ireland? None of these
seems an impossibility given what has happened in the last 10 years. We need
to monitor the westward spread across south Wales and into Cornwall. The
species has gained a foothold in these parts of the country and now we will
see if there is evidence of “back-filling”.
As a footnote, the final haul of data from 2010 now stands at a breathtaking
1118 lines of data. This includes a substantial dataset from our
collaborators at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT).
The Information Sheet that proved so popular last year has been updated to
take account of all the 2010 data. A Welsh version of the sheet is in the
final stages of production and should be available very shortly.
Good Hunting!
Stuart Roberts
Please submit records and photographs to spmr[at]msn.com
Stuart Roberts
May 2011
Photo: Nico Vereecken
Bombus hypnorum
was recorded as new to Britain in 2001 in Landford, Wilts. Since then, the
bee has spread rapidly, and is now quite plentiful, particularly in the home
counties, and increasingly, further afield. June is peak activity season for
this distinctive bumblebee, and BWARS has been mapping the spread since its
discovery 8 years ago. After a very successful call for records last year,
we have decided to run our campaign again. Any new records for 2009 should
be submitted to Stuart Roberts (spmr@msn.com) so that new maps can be
drawn. Records should include full details of locality, date, recorder and
identifier and, wherever possible, a photograph for verification purposes.
Updated maps will appear on the website as and when new records appear.
The 2011 records appearing in red.
For more information about finding this bee see the Open Air Laboratory
Bee Research
web pages.
It's
fairly simple to determine Bombus hypnorum - look for a bee with a ginger
thorax and black abdomen, tipped by a white tail.
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