what creature makes little mounds in paths ?

[ashgale]

i have been finding these little mounds of excavated sand/soil for a long time now, and always assumed them to be the work of ants,

but there never seems to any ants in the vicinity, nor do any appear if a blade of grass is inserted into the hole,

they are very nearly always found in well trodden and consequently rock hard footpaths on light sandy soil, in, often large numbers,

any one know what creature is responsible for them?



thanks,
ashgale

[Ukwildlifeo]

Probably a type of solitary bee. I cant be more precise than that but hopefully someone else will have a more precise idea

[2dogs2000]

It could be a mining bee.

These were made by a Tawny mining bee in April if that helps.

[eucera]

Almost certainly bees or solitary wasps.

[ashgale]

thanks for the replies,
although i have not seen anything in or near the holes, bees or wasps would seem the likely candidates then,
as, if it were ants there would most likely be at least one or two in the vicinity,

a spot of sitting around for a while and observing what comes near the holes seems to be the best way of identifying the occupants

(must remember not to poke grass down the hole again as i received a sting on the upper arm this morning from an unidentified and unseen assailant, and am now wearing a 50p sized red lump to prove it )

thanks again,
ashgale.

[Dillybythesea]

You raise interesting thoughts ashgale! Whenever I come across a neat pile of spoil around a small hole such as the one in your picture, I assume a solitary bee or wasp has just emerged as an adult, and flown off to start life. In which case, sitting around watching to see what tips up could be a long wait. On the other hand, when females are busy digging holes, or busy collecting pollen to put in their newly dug holes as stores for their larvae when they hatch underground, there always seems to be a lot of activity, including other bees investigating, cuckoo bees arriving, males lurking - in which case you wouldn't need much sitting around at all. And as for your sting, I'd bet it had nothing to do with poking grass in the hole, and much more to do with a sneaky horsefly or mosquito, but either way you have my sympathy!

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by Dillybythesea

You raise interesting thoughts ashgale! Whenever I come across a neat pile of spoil around a small hole such as the one in your picture, I assume a solitary bee or wasp has just emerged as an adult, and flown off to start life. In which case, sitting around watching to see what tips up could be a long wait. On the other hand, when females are busy digging holes, or busy collecting pollen to put in their newly dug holes as stores for their larvae when they hatch underground, there always seems to be a lot of activity, including other bees investigating, cuckoo bees arriving, males lurking - in which case you wouldn't need much sitting around at all. And as for your sting, I'd bet it had nothing to do with poking grass in the hole, and much more to do with a sneaky horsefly or mosquito, but either way you have my sympathy!

ah! I had not realised that the holes could be the result of an emerging bee , I assumed that the creature that had made the hole was still in residence ,

so my camping out by some of the holes could prove a fruitless occupation then ,
i take it that the bee/wasp would have been the sole occupant of the hole and not as in a normal bees nest, contain lots of individuals ?

as for the being stung, it was not related to poking grass into one of the holes, but the thought of poking a piece of grass down the hole to be faced by an irate bee or wasp has made me think twice about doing it again
I acquired the sting this morning, while walking in an entirely different location ,

(the lump left by the sting has almost disappeared now, after a liberal application of tcp, but I wish the aroma of the tcp would disappear as quickly )

thanks,

ashgale

[Dillybythesea]

Again such intersting questions you raise! Really we need an expert to say, don't we. Certainly I don't know anything, but was just mentioning observations, and the conclusions I came to! I do know, though, there are loads of different mining bees, and they have various arrangements for setting up and provisioning their larvae, and some, like Andrena carantonica, even have females sharing an entrance. But more usually I think it's one hole per female, with individual chambers off the main hole, with one egg, plus food store, per chamber. And I think she plugs each chamber as she goes along, and finally the main tunnel, and then leaves. Which I've always assumed means that next year each new adult digs its own way out to the surface.

Anyway, good to know you weren't casting aspersions re the sting. I do know male mining bees haven't the wherewithal, and females don't seem a bit inclined.

And yes, hasn't tcp just the MOST pervasive niff - almost worse than staying untreated!

[2dogs2000]

Originally Posted by ashgale

as for the being stung, it was not related to poking grass into one of the holes, but the thought of poking a piece of grass down the hole to be faced by an irate bee or wasp has made me think twice about doing it again


ashgale

This reminds me of when I investigated a hedgehog box. There was a mound of grass inside the size of half a tennis ball. I thought it might be a mouse so I lifted a handful of grass to have a look and it began to vibrate and buzzzzzzzz. I dropped it quickly and fled. Yes it was bees not a mouse.

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by 2dogs2000

This reminds me of when I investigated a hedgehog box. There was a mound of grass inside the size of half a tennis ball. I thought it might be a mouse so I lifted a handful of grass to have a look and it began to vibrate and buzzzzzzzz. I dropped it quickly and fled. Yes it was bees not a mouse.

David Attenborough and a chimpanzee are to blame for my poking grass into holes

as i picked up the trick after watching one of his tv shows which portrayed a chimpanzee poking sticks into termite nests to get the termites that clung to the stick on its withdrawl from the hole

(maybe the chimp was smarter than me though, as it knew what would be on the other end of the stick )

it must run in the family too, as when the kids were around 5 years old, we lived adjacent to a meadow which had a small weeping willow growing in the middle, which they used as a "den", until that is one day they came running and screaming across the field, after they had calmed down a little, we could see they were covered in little lumps,
it transpired that there was a small hole in the ground under the tree, and the eldest has poked a stick into the hole (see the connection ) and " a lot of yellow stripy things had jumped out and bit us",
going for a look at the cause of all this, we discovered the space under the tree to be full of non to pleased wasps ! which put the den firmly out of bounds for the rest of that summer

ashgale.