| The name is
very misleading, as Myrmosa atra is not an ant
at all, but a species of parasitic wasp who's hosts are
thought to be various ground-nesting crabonid wasps and
halictine bees. Only the females are unwinged and the
males can be found sometimes in large numbers, flying low
over sparsely vegetated areas in their search for a
female. Once a female is located by the male, she is
grabbed and the pair take flight whilst mating. Although
this is a widesread species over much of the UK, three of
these found during survey work on Sherwood Heath SSSI in
July 2012, were the first records for the Sherwood Forest
area. Females seem to vary in length, between 4mm and 5mm
and those found at Sherwood Heath were in scraped areas
encouraging Heather re-growth. |
