Hedychridium roseum (Rossi,1790)
Description and notes
Identification keys and general biology are give in Morgan (1984), Kunz (1994) and Mingo (1994).
Distribution
Cornwall to Kent and north to East Norfolk. There is one old record from North Wales. Found in the Channel Islands but not in Ireland.
Overseas, occurs in many parts of Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, former Czechoslovakia, former Yugoslavia, Greece, Cyprus), North Africa and Asia (Uzbekistan, Siberia and Manchuria).
Status (in Britain only)
Not listed in either Shirt (1987) or Falk (1991); however, work for this Atlas suggests that its status should be reviewed.
Identification
Photo: (C) Josef Dvorak www.biolib.cz for BWARS
Hedychridium roseum can be diagnosed by the dull, as opposed to shining, abdomen - unique to this species amongst British Hedychridium.
Habitat
Found in open sandy areas associated with the nesting habitat of its host (see below). Present on inland sandy areas including lowland heaths, and coastal sandy areas.
Flight period
Probably univoltine; July and August.
Flowers visited
Wild carrot (Daucus carota), sheep's-bit (Jasione montana) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium).
Parasites
No information available.
Parasitic biology
The hosts of this species are the Crabronid wasps Astata boops (see Map 083), Tachysphex pompiliformis (see Map 087) and Dienoplus tumidus (Morgan, 1984, as Gorytes tumidus). However, the distribution of A. boops and H. roseum are so similar in England that A. boops would seem to be the main, or even the only, host. For further information see H. ardens.
Year profile last updated
1998