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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

For the fennel-feeding report less than 2 miles from Strumpshaw Fen, my money is on brittanicus.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The wasp is Ectemnius continuous.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Disarticulation is the trademark of Auplopus carbonarius.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Very nice photos, as usual, but the wing vein pattern says the wasp is Pompilidae rather than pompiliformis, Arachnospila probably.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

It looks like a very bleached male Bombus lapidarius. The very pale face doesn't really fit anything else.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

It is an orange-vented mason bee/Osmia leaiana.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

The length of the hairs on the thorax sides and the abdomen pattern both say marginata to me.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The literature suggests P. dominula nests in Europe are almost always undercover on man made structures, most frequently under roof tiles. I have only seen the two nests I mentioned and I suspect they may not be typical.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

The BWARS maps are way out of date. There is much evidence of breeding in Norfolk, Cambs and other locations. Nests are often unobtrusive due to the small number of workers. My allotment neighbour overlooked a successful nest in her cold frame two years in succession.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

That looks like Podalonia affinis rather than hirsuta which will have finished nesting now.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

It proved to be Andrena nigrospina, the fourth 20th century record in Norfolk, which fits the flight period better than pilipes.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Succesfully avoiding the heat today at Gorleston with grey sky, cool breeze and max 20 degrees. Insects not very active but a sluggish female Andrena nigrospina or pilipes was my reward. If the latter, it may be the first for Norfolk.

A black bee carrying whitish pollen is held in gloved fingers.

A seafront with sandy beach and beach huts under overcast sky with the town beyond hidden in mist

A cliff slope with diverse vegetation and bare ground with sandy beach in the background

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Some highlights from a warm morning hunting insects on Halvergate Marshes with Paul Brock and Helen, included the Fen Mason Wasp, Long-horned General, Ornate Brigadier, (almost certainly) the tiny Apsidapion soror on Marsh-Mallow, and (evading the camera) a Moss Carder Bee.

A rather furry fly with long antennae, Stratiomys longicornis or Long-horned Colonel, taking nectar from the white flowers of Hogweed

A fly with large brown eyes which touch in the middle, and large orange spots on its abdomen, Odontomyia ornata or Ornate Brigadier, on tine white flowers of Hogweed.

The silhouette of a tiny weevil, Aspidapion soror, on the underside of a marsh mallow leaf.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

It certainly is Holopyga generosa, which has suddenly become widespread in the SE/home counties.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

The presentation of options for conservation strategy is welcome, but the dubious statements that precede are not helpful in identifying the best option.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Shifting foodplant choice may well be possible, and it has already happened with a tiny Hemlock-feeding population in The Broads, but I suspect shifting habitat choice away from wetlands is likely to be harder.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I have not had time to read this fully yet but what I have read is shocking. Proposing to lose a genetically distinct, ecologically specialist form of a species by interbreeding with the generalist continental form seems to misunderstand the purpose of biodiversity conservation.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I thought they were flying towards the big cherry tree in the garden to the east.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Nest locations ringed on images. Should be photographable with a bit of pateince.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Visiting Ranworth Church this am, following up a belated report of a new bee for Norfolk on iNaturalist by bhunt27, I quickly discovered a thriving colony of Osmia cornuta nesting in the south-facing wall of the church. Most nests are 3-5m up but a few were at head height.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

I stumbled across these "gendarmes" Pyrrhocoris apterus at Thorpe St. Andrew Old Hospital while looking for, but not finding, a different black and red insect around the Colletes cunicularius colony. A Norfolk and UK first for me so even better than a Giant Blood Bee.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Yes, and seems to be working in Norfolk, with LSMB now found throughout the county except on heavy clay, even on my allotment. Buglife seem to have got lost in translation, referring to "teasel" rather than scabious specialist bees on their website. Hopefully they haven't yet ordered the seed.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

A good idea, but only a tiny minority of insect species inside stems will be active by April. June is the peak month for insect emergence. Better to leave cleared stems in a dry place with similar microclimate to where they grew so they can emerge at any time.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

10 species on violets, chickweed, red dead nettle and daisy here in Brundall, which is the most I have seen in Feb. Most of yours, plus Andrena thoracica and flavipes, and Lasioglossum calceatum and smeathmanellum.

A grassy bank full sweet violet flowers next to a pavement.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Same here, coughing and spluttering to an all time best of 55 species at Brundall.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

I have no eye for ants in the field but L.meridionalis seems plausible based on habitat, though workers "rarely seen above ground". Would need a very close look under a microscope to confirm.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

9 years of successful breeding in the Norwich area seems fairly established, similar in Cambs and presumably some southern counties. The Walled Garden in Little Plumstead is the easiest place to see them.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

They are having a great year and seems likely viable populations are now established in Norfolk, Cambs and a few other counties.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Males have reported in the Norwich area from mid July which is about a month earlier than typical.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Trimingham is the only one place I know in East Anglia where I can reliably find Andrena nigripes. Today, at least 9 females were visiting in ragwort, knapweed and mignonette.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Birches were not far away. ID using "the nearest food plant" method has let me down before.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

I think this is the larva of Alder Clubhorn, Cimbex connatus, under Alder trees at Broadland Country Park, Norfolk, yesterday.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

I see no obvious hairs on T6 and shape of T6 plus colour of pollen brush are consistent only with M.ligniseca, which is also the one that visits thistles most often.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Ceropales maculata, our prettiest spider-hunting wasp, not seen in Norfolk since 1986, but found today at Middle Harling Heath. The Giant Blood-Bee was also new for the site and 122nd bee species I have found there.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Andrena nitidiuscula/Carrot Mining Bee, first Norfolk record at Downham Market, found by Stephen Patmore on 14th and confirmed today. Previously found no further north than S. Essex so a big range extension.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

I would say similis with the reddish thorax.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

There were at least 30 Polistes dominula at Little Plumstead Walled Garden today. This species is starting to feel established in the Norwich area.

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Reposted by Tim Strudwick

Dave Goulson @davegoulson.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree. youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU

youtu.be

No More Beewashing! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees.

YouTube video by Dave Goulson

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Just thinking Sweet Briar Marshes was a little dull entomologically, then got this tiny one under the microscope. Nitela lucens - a new species and genus for me and for Norfolk.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

A nice selection of cleptoparasites and parasitoids of Osmia bees and relatives in my small garden this morning: Monosapyga clavicornis, Sapyga quinquepunctata, Stelis phaeoptera and Chrysura radians. Monosapyga was my first garden record.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

This male Bombus jonellus was a surprise among 32 species of bee in and around The Walled Garden at Little Plumstead this morning, and nice to see a paper wasp Polistes dominula in the churchyard next door.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

I certainly haven't come across any Norfolk records but dryinids are rarely found by those that submit records to BWARS or irecord. It is new to the Norfolk list I curate.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

I expect it will turn up. I found one unexpectedly on my Brundall allotment today.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

Another weekend and another Giant Blood Bee at a new Norfolk site - Broome Heath. Another recent UK colonist, Lasioglossum sexstrigatum, was there too. These two seem to like the same places.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

One female this year in Brundall, in Beech Way, but no nest located.

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Tim Strudwick @timstrudwick.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Possibly ephippius but you need impossibly good photos to rule out other species.

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