Megan le Fey Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I found these little structures this morning when we were out walking dogs. They are about the size of a small fist and there were lots and lots of them, all quite close together. They covered a fairly large area and were very freshly made but we didn't see any inhabitants. They reminded me of something we called 'ant lions' in Africa but they were kind of reversed - the hole was at the bottom of an inverted slope and the prey would slip down the sandy slope into the clutches of the predator insect at the bottom. Perhaps they are ant holes but why so many of them, there were probably 100 or more and they were not there day before yesterday. [IMG]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/miggimeggi/IMGP0378.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/miggimeggi/IMGP0379.jpg[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 How wierd are they??? My first thoughts are that they are lumps of some kind of posion to kill weeds? maybe the person who placed it has poked holes in it to drive it ino the ground? this can not be burrowed up soil, it looks like large pieces of salt, I would keep the dogs well away. I would love to hear if you find out what they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 What's the white stuff, is it the soil?Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Looks to me like gritty, white, coarse sandy soil pushed up from the holes. Not something that's been plonked there. If hundreds have appeared overnight that suggests insects - but what an odd time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Are the mounds solid, Megan, like something has bound the particles together, or are they loose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissie Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Could the white bits be eggs of some sort?Chrissie (81) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 OK, neck stuck well out... they are made by some type of bee or wasp.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 The first picture you can see salt or crystal of some kind , i dont think it has come up from the ground . Do you think its a early aprils fool by this young lady???[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I think it looks like sandy soil, therefore a type of bee, Apoidea, some types emerge around now.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan le Fey Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 The white stuff is the soil and the crystalline bits are just that - bits of crystal of some sort. It is really just very coarse, white sand. I don't think that the mounds are stuck together with anything like any kind of secretion, it just seems like freshly dug, moist coarse sand. The holes are approximately 1cm across and the things are absolutely not man-made. Not only are they too irregular but also, nobody would bother, the field belongs to our old and ill landlady and is too poor even to be worth cutting for hay. This particular portion of the field is on a downward slope and has even poorer soil than the rest and mostly only grows heather and (I think) wild sorrel. We walk the dogs here most days when the weather allows and I didn't see these last year. We haven't actually searched for more but there do not seem to be any on the (slightly) better soil.I, also, had wondered about either bees or wasps. There weren't any flying around when I took the pics but then it was getting dull and the drizzle was just starting so not really bee weather, also there are not yet any flowers around where the mounds are. Curious. If the rain holds off tomorrow I will have a closer look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Bees, no question about it, ideal conditions.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan le Fey Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 Thank you Chris and everybody. Suddenly I am a little bit fascinated by these bees and will be looking out for the beasts themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 You may need to do a lot of research, but try starting with "Apoidea", most of these use well drained sandy soil, some emerge as early as Feb and can be found in large groupings, I suspect that from Apoidea you "drop down" to A.Andrena. of which there are loads of types, but that's a guess.A lot of these bees don't look much like the general idea of what a bee looks like and I guess most people pay no attention to them when they are on dandelions etc.Have fun, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I did a search for "bee hole" and look what I found Apparently it's the Plasterer Bee, if you scroll to the bottom of this page http://www.whatsthatbug.com/bees.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Can you get him to come and finish our landing? Is he properly registered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan le Fey Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 [quote user="chris pp"]You may need to do a lot of research, but try starting with "Apoidea", most of these use well drained sandy soil, some emerge as early as Feb and can be found in large groupings, I suspect that from Apoidea you "drop down" to A.Andrena. of which there are loads of types, but that's a guess.A lot of these bees don't look much like the general idea of what a bee looks like and I guess most people pay no attention to them when they are on dandelions etc.Have fun, Chris[/quote]Well spotted Chris! I searched as you suggested and could see that you were right and the culprit is A.Andrena. The thing that was still bothering me was the absence of any flowers in the area but then I found a reference to a type of Andrena, Andrena macoupinensis. This type forages mostly on Salix (willow) and about 150 metres away there is a little area of woodland which includes a lot of catkin trees which all came into full flower just a few days ago. So.......catkins come into flower and almost simultaneously bees set up home just across the way on a nice, well drained sandy slope close to all local amenities. Ain't nature wonderful. [:D] I still need to check the distribution of this one to see if they occur here and also Christine's plasterer but now we are off to walk the dogs. Perhaps we will see one of the bees, especially now that I have a better idea of what I am looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.