Long-horned Bee (Eucera longicornis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - hymenopteran > Bee |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Eucera longicornis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | Listed as a Notable A species by Falk (1991). |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | This bee is declining across its range in England, from Cornwall to Kent, north to central and western England. Inland sites in particular are in decline. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The creation and sympathetic management of flower-rich grassland, with a good abundance of legumes, ought to go a long way to stabilising populations. Detailed actions were identified in the Buglife South West Bees Project report, Nov 2013, https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/2019/07/South-west-bees-project-final_1.pdf, which has general applicability. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Provided the habitats are rich in legumes. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | The habitat preferences of this species are known. Decline has probably been fuelled by loss of species-rich grassland, so creation of suitable new habitat should help reverse this trend. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Increase the extent of legume-rich grassland within the current range by 10% over 10 years.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat creation
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites: Southern England, where opportunity arises; Priority sites would be for supporting cuckoo bee, Nomada sexfasciata, along S. Devon coast at Prawle Point.
Comments: The first stage to recovery is to halt the current decline is to stabilise current populations, prior to seeking to recolonise former range areas. Habitat creation might merely entail altering the management of current grassland sites to permit flowering of legumes or the creation of new grasslands.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Increase the extent of legume-rich grassland beyond the current range by 10% over 10 years. Habitat creation might be merely altering the management of current grassland sites to permit flowering of legumes or the creation of new grasslands.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat creation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites: Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex
Comments: This comprises a second phase of habitat enhancement/creation if the first action point proves successful.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Create/maintain open ground for nesting aggregations.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Coastal cliffs and other grasslands
Comments: This species nests in aggregations, so large continuous banks of bare or sparsely vegetated ground would be desirable to maximise the population at any one site.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.