Ectemnius cephalotes

Description

Ectemnius cephalotes is quite a large species of digger wasp (length 15 mm) and has the familiar black and yellow colouring with an almost glossy body.

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Most solitary bees and wasps are difficult to identify, and can rarely be identified from photos taken in the field.  All red-rated records should include a photo or set of photos of the specimen, illustrating the key characters taken from a standard key, which should also be referenced (e.g. ‘Falk, 2015’).  The full set of key characters are generally not visible in field photos and photos are rarely sharp enough. To aid in the verification of your records, please include face shot, side, top and wings.  The notes should state whether male or female, and explain how the specimen met the key characters.  Although NS may not be able to identify the species even if these reference photos are provided, the photos will be stored with the record and may allow it be identified in future.   Alternatively, NS will accept records identified by a recognised local or national expert, or that have been identified via BWARS’ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100065021433202 .  If you have obtained this advice, please note the name of the person/organisation identifying the record in the ‘determiner’ field (e.g. ‘Stuart Roberts, BWARS Facebook’) rather than just a comment of ‘BWARS Facebook’.

Habitat

Woodland, copses and other well wooded areas, it can however also be found in open countryside especially near to dead wood, or on umbellifer flowers.

When to see it

June to early October.

Life History

Ectemnius cephalotes do not dig in sand but in soft wood instead. A nest may have one main entrance with several females using it. They bore lateral tunnels with separate cells capable of containing up to a dozen prey items apiece. The males, as usual, are smaller and play no part in breeding once mating has occurred.

UK Status

Widely distributed in England and Wales, and fairly frequent in many areas. Rare in Scotland.

VC55 Status

Fairly common in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Species group:
Bees, Wasps, Ants
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Crabronidae
Records on NatureSpot:
3
First record:
27/08/2009 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
07/09/2019 (Berriman, Matthew)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest images

Latest records