Species Account for Melitta leporina
Melitta leporina (Panzer, 1779)
a mining bee
Aculeata: Melittinae
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Taxonomic group: bees and wasps (Aculeata) - County data
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Essex RDB: Listed
Threat: Essex Threatened
Images
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forages on legumes. Recent work shows should be Nb
Species text
This bee collects pollen from clovers and vetches, and is an uncommon species of open grassland on sand, chalk and clay soils in southern England, becoming scarce in the northern counties and Wales. Current evidence suggests that its status should be reviewed (Edwards, 1998; BWARS website www.bwars.com). It nests in sandy ground. It is probably a host species to the Nationally Scarce cuckoo bee Nomada flavopicta. In Essex the bee is only otherwise recorded from the East Thames Corridor, where its metapopulation is threatened by large-scale loss of flower rich grassland, post industrial habitats, old sand pits and waste ground by development. References
Habitats
Recorded management for locations with Melitta leporina
Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Melitta leporina
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Interpretation of distribution maps