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The 28^th August saw the first record of another new arrival to our region. The Sea Aster Mining Bee, Colletes halophilus.

While It’s close relative the Ivy Mining Bee, Colletes hederae, was first confirmed in Dorset in just 2001 and rapidly spread across the country C. halophilus has been present since prior to 1960 and strictly distributed along the south and east coasts.

The record made by Dr Phil Smith of this species occurring at Marshside on the 28^th August represents a striking cross-country shift for this species and is the first record for the Sefton Coast and VC59 – South Lancashire.

Even more fascinating is that it has not occurred in isolation. The latest record is within days of the species being first recorded on the Northwest coast back in 2018 by Steve Garland (31^st August 2018) who collected a specimen at North Walney NNR, Cumbria. The species was also reported and considered ‘plausible’ on the Dee Estuary on the 18^th and 26^th September back in 2021 and has recently been reported again at Hoylake by Jane Turner (1^st and 5^th September) suggesting a persistent population.

The distributions of both these Colletes remains highly dynamic and so any new records are incredibly useful and welcome.

Information on the ecology of C. hederae and C. halophilus can be found on the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS) website and you can see the latest sightings via iRecord (https://irecord.org.uk/).

• Record of Colletes halophilus at Marshside by Dr Phil Smith https://irecord.org.uk/record-details?occurrence_id=28077667
• BWARS: Colletes halophilus https://www.bwars.com/bee/colletidae/colletes-halophilus
• BWARS: Colletes hederae https://www.bwars.com/bee/colletidae/colletes-hederae