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NEYEDC improve and inform environmental decision making, conservation, land management and sustainable development in North and East Yorkshire through the collation, management, analysis and dissemination of biodiversity information.

The Natural History of Yorkshire in 100 Species

Explore the rich and diverse natural history of our region through the stories of 100 species, told by the people who know them best.

#53 Sea Aster Mining Bee by Phill Robinson

Meet Phill Robinson, Senior Aquarist at The Deep Aquarium, Hull!

Phill is currently a Senior Aquarist at The Deep Aquarium in Hull where he takes care of the Reptiles, terrestrial Invertebrates, and native aquatic species. Alongside this, he is a part of the BIAZA Field Conservation Committee, part of the steering committee for the BIAZA Terrestrial Invertebrate Working Group, BIAZA representative and surveyor for the Tansy Beetle Action Group, and is am heavily involved with The Deeps new Weeds for Wildlife campaign, in collaboration with the University of Hull, Hull City Council, and The Wykeland Group Ltd. Phill has had had a lifelong interest in the natural world, and is passionate about surveying, ecology, taxonomy, evolutionary biology, and all things venomous. He recently graduated with an MSc by research from Canterbury Christ Church University, where he was researching Cnidarian venoms. He can often be found outside looking for invertebrates and logging my finds on iNaturalist, a skill he has been able to utilise during events such as Hull City Nature Challenge 2023 and the BIAZA Spotted on Site campaign. Phill can be contacted through email: phil.robinson@thedeep.co.uk and on Twitter @The_Cnerdarian.

Sea Aster Mining Bee at Hessle Haven, Africa Gomez (c)

Phill’s chosen species is the Sea Aster Mining Bee Colletes halophilus. This is a rare solitary species of mining bee which exclusively occupies coastal habitats, being linked especially with saltmarsh environments. The species is known to have a restricted distribution within the UK, where it is found around the coastline from the East to Southeast of England (Hardy, 2013; Kuhlmann, 2013). The UK supports nationally important populations, with the bee restricted globally to the North Sea coastline.

C. halophilus is listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, as well as being recognised as a United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) priority species and is listed as a species of principal importance in section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006 (Sommeijer et al, 2009; Hardy, 2013; Kuhlmann, 2013). Whilst it is currently slowly expanding in its distribution, although population trends are fluctuating due to geographic fragmentation and occupying areas which are at risk of anthropogenic factors, such as coastline management schemes, as well as potential habitat loss through climate change induced rises in sea levels (Hardy, 2013; Kuhlmann, 2013).

The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) shows that there have been 284 records nationally, which have occurred between 1935 and 2022. Within our local area, however, this is reduced to just 52 records (figure 1), which have all occurred between 1980 and 2022.

Despite C. halophilus being a solitary species of bee, they tend to aggregate when nesting, with many burrows of individually nesting females covering an area. They show a preference for South facing slopes which have a low coverage of vegetation and are made up of substrates which contain high concentrations of sand (Sommeijer et al, 2009; Hardy, 2013; Kuhlmann, 2013). They are active from mid to late August until late October, even occasionally occurring as late as November (Sommeijer et al, 2009; Hardy, 2013). Nest building takes part soon after copulation, where the female will construct a burrow to lay several eggs. The larvae of C. halophilus will overwinter within the burrows and emerge the following year to repeat the cycle (Hardy, 2013).

Nesting burrows at Welwick, Africa Gomez (c)

As its name suggests, pollen from Sea Aster is known to provide up to 95% of the larval food for C. halophilus, and it flowers at the same time as their august emergence from their burrows. However, the pollen of several other species of plant have also been found within the brood cells, too. This includes a number of other Asteraceae, including Sow Thistle (Sonchus arvensis), Hawkbit (Leontodon sp.), and Bonesets (Eupatorium sp.); several Brassicaceae, including Wall-Rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), and Sea-Rocket (Cakile maritima); and small amounts of pollen from plants of other families, including Sea-Milkwort (Lysimachia maritima), Sea-Lavender (Limonium vulgare), and several species of Plantain (Plantago sp.) (Sommeijer et al, 2009).

The Sea Aster Mining Bee has been the focus of a Buglife project which sought to understand this species’ specific habitat requirements. Their findings confirmed that the bee will exploit both natural and man-made habitats if forage and suitable nesting sites are present in some way - this is good news for the species, as it means relatively simple measures can be taken to help prevent their decline as long as Sea Aster is present.

Recording and monitoring

Records of Sea Aster Mining Bee can submitted to your local LERC or national schemes such as BWARS, the Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society.

Further information and acknowledgements

NEYEDC would like to thank Phill for his time and expertise in helping to create this blog.

Sea Aster Mining Bee, Hessle

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