This was joint recording day with Cheshire Bee Group. Heswall fields contains wildflower meadows fronting the Dee estuary/Heswall shore. The sandy banks leading up to the fields contain perfect nesting opportunities for a variety of wasp and bee species. In past years the Nationally Notable Sea Aster Bee (Colletes halophilius) has been recorded here.

iRecord Record List

iRecord Summary

Notable Records:

Conostethus griseus (Miridae), P. Brighton

• Swept from Sea Purslane.
• Possibly 2nd VC59 record, with only 43 other published UK records showing a strictly coastal, but scattered, distribution (nbnatlas.org.uk).
• This Mirid is a saltmarsh specialist, feeding on saltmarsh grasses such as Puccinellia maritima.
• Conostethus griseus is very similar to another species in the genus, C. brevis, which occurs on the east coasts of Scotland and northern England. They are thought to be differentiated based on head width, body length, and antennal length – but whether they are actually separate species is doubtful (britishbugs.org.uk).