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2. To spot this month: Can you be the first to spot the Ivy bee in Ireland?
This is still the one to spot this month! The Ivy Bee has never been recorded in Ireland, but it is now common in Britain and seems likely to arrive on our shores very soon. It’s a solitary bee with an autumn flight period, to match the flowering of its favourite plant - Ivy. In Britain it can be found from early September until early November. It nests in south facing banks of light soil, you might even be lucky enough to have it set up home in your garden!
It should be fairly easy to recognise – it’s quite large and has very distinctive bands of white on the abdomen. To make it a little easier, most of our solitary bees have completed their life cycles for this year, but there will still be hoverflies and honeybees on the wing. If you think you've spotted this bee please try to take a photograph and email it to me for validation.
http://pollinators.ie/record-pollinators/watch-for-new-arrivals
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