Virtual Field Trips
East Head
8. Silver Spiny Digger Wasps
This is another busy part of East Head. During the summer many people travel to East Head by boat and moor off the northern tip of the spit where there is sheltered anchorage from the prevailing wind.
July on the Beach
They come ashore to enjoy the sandy beach and as a result the edge of the dunes gets very trampled and eroded.
This could be a problem if there was not heavy deposition to compensate for it.
The dunes at this end of the spit are healthy and the Marram Grass flourishing.
Click here to find out more about Marram Grass.
Trampling the Dunes
Sand Lizard Footprints
Sand Lizards
It is a good place to find sand lizard footprints trailing through the sand. You may even be lucky enough to spot a lizard, but they tend to be rather shy!
Notices
Notices
Because this is a heavily visited part of East Head there are several notices to caution or inform.
Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards.
British insects: the families of Hymenoptera.
Version: 24th August 2006. http://delta-intkey.com
Silver Spiny Digger Wasps
The small area of the dunes that has been fenced off is home to the Silver Spiny Digger Wasp. The wasp burrows into the dunes to breed. It catches other invertebrates and injects them with a poison that paralyses but doesn’t kill.
The prey is then carried into the burrow and becomes a ‘living larder’ for the wasp grubs.
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