WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Widespread but not common in the Southern half of the UK. More scattered elsewhere. Habitat includes: Open sites with a combination of large pieces of dead wood e.g. stumps, fallen trunks, old fence posts in places such as, wasteland, gardens, parks etc. Length= 11-16.5mm. Builds nests by tunneling in dead wood where the adults stockpile paralysed Syrphidae (Hoverflies) in separate cells on which the larvae feed. Adults feed on nectars from various umbellifers and also takes honeydew. I've seen the adults grab hoverflies and take them back to their tunnels (which they excavate in rotting wood with their mandibles and they leave behind a pile of sawdust near the entrance of the tunnel) and they then stuff them in the tunnel-over 20 in which they lay an egg on or near to the stock pile. Possibly introduced with timber, as the first British record was in 1926. Diet: Adults - umbellifer flowers. Larvae - Hoverflies. Flight period: late May to September.