Uncommon Flora of Suffolk

Page 1

LIFE AND HABITS OF SILVER SPRING DIGGER WASP

249

on leaving she resealed the nest by scraping the sand with the forefeet, this passing under the body back towards the nest. No particular effort appeared to be made in doing this, and occasionally the task was left incomplete. A small ledge formed part of the entrance to the nest situated in the shallow hole ; upon this the vvasp alighted and carried out the foregoing work quite easily. REMARKS : This species of Oxybelus is referred to by A. H. Hamm and O. W. Richards (Trans, Ent. Soc. Lond., 78 Part 1. Pages 117 and 126, June 30th, 1930) in their paper on " T h e Biology of the British Fossorial W a s p s " as an inhabitant of the sandhills of the west coast of England and at Porthcawl, and its only prey appears to be the equally silvery fly Thereva annulata F. Occasionally a male and female of this silvery species T. annulata have been taken on West Stow Heath and on three occasions females were observed depositing ova in the hot sand, quite near the nests of O. argentatus which passed over them without regard. Specimens of Thereva plebeia Linn were identified by Dr. C. D. Day.

HENRY J.

BOREHAM.

UNCOMMON FLORA OF SUFFOLK By F. W .

SIMPSON

This article (continued from page 43) enumerates some of the more interesting plants of the County which have become rare or are now presumed extinct. There is a number of very doubtful Suffolk plants, and where no herbarium specimens have been traced it is probable that the old records are incorrect. Inula crithmoides L.—Golden Samphire. A doubtful Suffolk plant of muddy salt marshes. No herbarium specimens. It occurs, however, a few miles south of Felixstowe in Essex ; sparingly in the extensive marshes between Dovercourt and Walton, and there is the possibility that it may extend its ränge into Suffolk. Pulicaria vulgaris Gaertn.—Small Fleabane. Very rare and probably extinct. Old records for Framlingham and Bramford. A plant of moist sandy heaths and places flooded during winter, decreasing species everywhere. Pulicaria dysenterica (L.) Berhn.—Fleabane—is very frequent all over the County in suitable moist and fairly open habitats. [ Antennaria dioica (L.) Gaertn.—Cat's-foot. Formerly on heaths at Cavenham, Culford and Newmarket. Almost certainly extinct in Suffolk and now gone from many localities in the south of Britain.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.