Invertebrate survey at Gunpowder Park, the former Royal Ordnance Site in the Lee Valley
Rhopalidae Stictopleurus abutilon [Extinct]
The species was found in Area B. It is a large pale brownish bug found in dry open habitats. There
were confirmed records for Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset, but until recently it was believed
to be extinct in Britain. It is now recorded widely in warm open flower-rich grassland in the southeast,
presumably in response to climate change, on 'waste ground' or other unmanaged and sporadically
disturbed habitat, but the species seems far less common than Stictopleurus punctatonervosus.
Rhopalidae Stictopleurus punctatonervosus RDB [Extinct]
The species was found in Area C. This is a large pale greenish brown bug found in dry open
habitats. There were nineteenth century records of this species from Surrey and Sussex, but until
recently (Bowdrey 1999) it was believed to be extinct in Britain. It is now recorded widely in warm
open flower rich grassland in the southeast, presumably in response to climate change, on 'waste
ground' or other unmanaged and sporadically disturbed habitat.
HYMENOPTERA: Aculeata - bees, wasps and ants
Chrysididae Cleptes semiauratus Notable/Mb, Essex Red Data species, Essex Threatened
The species was found in Area D. This ruby-tailed wasp is widely distributed in England, and
although formerly widespread and locally frequent, it is now scarce everywhere and seems to have
declined considerably (Falk 1991b). There are very few records in Essex. It is a parasitoid of the
cocoons of the Common Currant Sawfly Nematus ribesii, a garden pest of Redcurrant and
Gooseberry.
Colletinae Hylaeus cornutus Notable/Na, Essex Red Data species, Regionally Important
The species was found in Arca D. Records of this bec arc largely confined to the south-central and
south-eastern counties of England, with about 30 known post-1970 sites known to Falk (1991a), over
half in Kent. In Essex the bee is mostly found near the Thames in post-industrial habitats and disused
mineral extraction sites where Carrot Daucus carota or other white Umbellifers occur in quantity.
There is a close association with these flowers, especially Carrot, from which the bec collects pollen
to provision its cells. Nesting is reported in herbaceous stems and the dead stems of bramble.
Colletinae Hylaeus signatus Notable/Nb, Essex Red Data species, Regionally Important
The species was found on the edges of Areas C and D where the pollen resource grows by the side
of the track. This bee is mainly recorded from southern England, with about 30 known post-1970
sites known to Falk (199la), over half in Kent. In Essex the bec is mainly found near the Thames in
post-industrial habitats and disused mineral extraction sites where Weld Reseda luteola or Mignonette
Reseda lutea occur. There is a close association with Reseda, from which the bee collects pollen to
provision its cells. Falk (at a lecture in 2003) stated that in Warwickshire the species docs not occur
in isolated parts of the county even where good stands of Reseda occur- indicating the importance
of a continuity of habitat mosaic and the nature conservation losses that occur when fragmentation
becomes excessive, currently a massive threat in the East Thames Corridor. Nests have been recorded
from dead woody stems of bramble and rose, in hard clay banks and occasionally in the mortar of
masonry.
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 21 (2004)