NatureScot Commissioned Report 973 - Survey for Osmia inermis in Perthshire, 2015-2016

SNH Commissioned Report 973 front cover

The mountain mason bee (Osmia inermis) is one of UK’s rarest bees, known only in the central Scottish Highlands, at sites near Blair Atholl and Braemar. The bee was last recorded in Britain in 2005, at Meall Gruaim.

The low-cost ‘trap-nests’ monitoring method recently developed for this species has a success rate of 10%. This study aimed to use this methodology – which employs upturned terracotta saucers – and establish the presence of Osmia inermis at the Scottish sites.

Osmia inermis used none of the trap-nests set out in 2015 or 2016, but the presence of the bee cannot be ruled out. Its population is likely to be low, and both sites monitored offered many other options for nesting places.

Published: 2017
Pages: 12

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Publication 2017 - NatureScot Commissioned Report 973 - Survey for Osmia inermis in Perthshire, 2015-2016

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