Humid night resulted in at least 300/100 moths in the garden trap, plus a load of additional taxa including this rather nice little new bug for me - never previously clocked its existence!

Species 8,613: Stelis odontopyga (Smooth-saddled Dark Bee). Male and female found on the Essex coast last week, and in working them out, have realised that a 2022 specimen of 'breviuscula' was actually also this. First recorded in Britain in 2017, still not many recs www.flickr.com/photos/63075...

Your annual reminder that if you only know one bramble make it Rubus armeniacus Himalayan Giant, the only truly invasive non-native bramble. Discolores (chalk white on leaf undersides), orange-green stems with contrasting red prickles. Huge in all parts. Overtops native communities. #BrambleDuJour

Birders job at Natural England: Senior Specalist in Terrestrial Birds www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

Anyone care to help with this fritillary from north/central Croatia last week? Heath or False Heath? Or something else? #butterflies

Rock Partridge are supposed to be easier to find on Pag Island (Croatia) than virtually anywhere else in their range, but it still took me 2 hours of searching before locating a couple on the stone walls at Velo Blato #birds

1/2 For #teammoth ers who trap in the field with cheap gennies. I have a Wolf P950 that's done many hours over several years of servicing-free service. But last outing it dumped the fuel. Taking it apart is a game, but found a fuel pipe right at the top of the fuel tank had become detatched.

Chromatomyia spinaciae mines are staring to appear on thistles They form long twisting yellow mines and if you turn the leaf over you can find the pale puparium. These are from the garden today

It’s a core count for WeBS tomorrow. Sites are available for Worcestershire (couple of examples attached). If you fancy contributing to some important citizen science (and are a Worcestershire birder) see link in bio on sites available #worcsbirds

Drove across the Orwell Bridge tonight and there was a (still slightly fluffy) Peregrine juv perched on the north parapet, clearly just fledged. Hope it avoids the traffic 😕🤞 @suffolkbirdgroup.bsky.social @scottmayson.bsky.social

We now have a more accessible answer. JNCC's new GB Red List Dashboard brings together assessments for over 10,000 species, compiled by conservation bodies, researchers & citizen scientists across the country Find out more: bit.ly/4v9S3uv #TogetherForNature

Gosh, that's where I saw my first ever Little Egret, in 1987. One for the kids to be amazed about.

Excellent find here by Dave - and another new sawfly for Norfolk.

I have been checking lots of Ox-eye Daisies for a target aphid of mine, Macrosiphoniella subterranea (influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Macr...), but in doing so yesterday I noticed some Thrips. These are Haplothrips leucanthemi, a common species of Ox-eye Daisies and Red Clover.

Seconded, both on the congrats, and on the pricing comments. It's superb that a new book on this group is coming out, but that's a ridiculous cost per species. About 50x more than the Duff beetle books. Doubt I'll be buying it, and let's face it, surely I'm part of the target audience.

Copidosoma spp. coming out of my ears! If only I had a copy of: Guerrieri & Noyes (2005) Revision of the European species of Copidosoma Ratzeburg (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), parasitoids of caterpillars (Lepidoptera). Systematic Entomology, 30(1), 97-174. Can anyone help? #Wasps #Hymenoptera #VC55

Found a superb insect on Saturday - Vedalia Ladybird (Novius cardinalis), from an oak tree at La Garenne Nature Reserve. A new species of ladybird for Guernsey. About 4mm long, hairy all over, and a very vivid red colour with black patches. Only a few UK records I believe.

Just realised that I've recently surpassed 10,000 images on my flickr site, almost all of various forms of wildlife. Image 10,000 was probably one of my very rare forays into bird photography, with this cooperative Tree Sparrow at RSPB Bempton Cliffs last week. flic.kr/p/2sg69HW.

Thought I really ought to make the effort to post some Striped Hawk pics that didn't feature an egg-box.

Species 8,590: Hyles livornica (Striped Hawk-moth) in the garden trap in Shotesham, first egg-box of the morning. New for the 10km square it would appear @norfolkmoths.bsky.social

Finally trecked up to Sea Palling and got my dad a tick, my third sighting of the Black-winged Kite now and the closest I think. Phone-scoped alongside more typical Norfolk fare.

We noticed fourteen tiny Yellow Loosestrife larvae, Monostegia abdominalis, munching away on the Yellow Loosestrife plants (Lysimachia vulgaris) around the garden pond today... @andymus.bsky.social

Yay....Dryophilocoris flavoquadrimaculatus...you can sing this to Super­cali­fragilistic­expiali­docious.

Pretty damn sure I just heard a Bee-eater over Shotesham, whilst working at my desk with the door open to the garden. Two brief calls, then after my brain clicked into gear, nothing more. Curses!

Help from #Harvestmen #Opiliones fans requested! I am looking for photos of Leiobunum limbatum, Leiobunum gracile (tisciae) & Dasylobus graniferus for a project I'm working on. These are European species that have recently been recorded in the UK. Reply to this post or message me if you can help.

Nice to bump into a new population of Hairy Stonecrop Sedum villosum in Crook Gill, Wharfedale today. A specialist of flat limestone slabs with a thin crust of soil in the Yorkshire Dales, but uber rare with only a handful of large populations, most further west on Ingleborough. Pretty little thing.

Nice walk at Walberswick-Dunwich today. Two singing Nightingales - haven't heard any here for a few years (maybe I haven't visited right time?) Also a real concentration of 7 Garden Warblers along the track down the west side of Dingle Marshes. Hobby, Med Gulls, etc also present.

Insects were hard to find in the New Forest last week with low temperatures and hardly any sun. Last morning it finally broke through and this stonking longhorn Stictopleura scutellata appeared on a massive old Beech stump. It was still too cold for much else though, sadly. #ukwildlife #beetle

One for @theponker.bsky.social

After being out of print for some time, Beetles of Britain and Ireland: Volume 4 by Andrew G. Duff is back in print for 2026 🪲 Covering 983 species across 14 families - this specialist reference includes modern keys, updated taxonomy & species notes. £100 online until 31 May 2026 buff.ly/754ydxm

Job alert! Apply via www.bto.org/jobs Are you passionate about birds with an interest in data and admin? We're looking for someone to join our Surveys Team and support UK bird surveys. 📆 Full time, Permanent. 📍 Thetford, Norfolk (Hybrid). 📝 £29,754 per annum. Closing date: Sunday 7 June

Update: apparently, this should be T. tibiale according to Marko Mutanen in Finland. Taxonomic work is progressing on this genus at last - hooray!

Fast-forward 11 months, and my Trichiosoma larva, then pupa, emerged as an adult a few days ago. As far as I'm aware, we still don't have a reliable key to name these stonking great beasts to species. One day, hopefully.

For those isopod afficionados out there, can confirm that Chaetophiloscia elongata is still numerous just above the high tide mark along the seawall base under the Kingsferry Bridge (Kent). @ecology-digest.bsky.social and I discovered this species in 2024, couldn't resist checking in on it today!

Emus!

I found one of my target aphids for this year today at Whitlingham. This is the Lime leaf-nest Aphid, Patchiella reaumuri, which curles up young growth of lime (Tilia) trees and lives in the crumpled leaves. These pseudogalls contain one big fundatrix, which gives birth to the small pale immatures.

We met a giant at Holme Fen! The largest lowland birch woodland hosting our largest birch sawfly!

#SawfliesOnFingers today near Ipswich - nice big colourful ones too, Macrophya punctumalbum and Tenthredo baetica.

A new aphid for my Norwich list this evening, Black-spotted Bamboo Aphid (Takecallis arundinariae) in Waterloo Park. I've checked quite a lot of Bamboo around the city, but prior to this I've only seen Takecallis arundicolens.

Fans of spindly, hard to identify, bugs rejoice, for the Dicyphus species are now included in the Heteroptera of Bedfordshire slides www.flickr.com/photos/runne...

A new leaf-mining species for me this week, Orchestes fagi (a Beech leaf-mining weevil) I think - lots of these on Beech leaves in my local woodland just now

Much of my garden is overrun with ground elder at the moment, so I have been admiring it. I found a couple of fungi living on it - Mycosphaerella podagrariae on the leaves and Protomyces macrospora on the stems.

A good find by @doublekidney.bsky.social . One to look out for on Limes, as well as Parna tenella, which rolls leaf edges on low sucker growth and would also be new for Yorkshire. @ynuorg.bsky.social

Someone has been munching on our rose leaves and today I managed to find the culprit! A rather groovy Shoulder Stripe caterpillar - with thanks to @andymus.bsky.social for identification and @markgolley.bsky.social for the fabulous pics. #TeamMoth #NorfolkMoths

Superb piece of work Vanna - very useful for anyone interested in pseudoscorpions, whether in Norfolk or more widely

Last chance to apply to be our Biological Data Manager! Visit www.bto.org/jobs to submit your application! 📆 Full time, Permanent 📝 £32,952 per annum 📍 HQ in Thetford, Norfolk (hybrid role) Deadline for applications: Sunday 17 May #Ornithology

Decided to try and write something about what bugs to look for through the year - Bedfordshire-centric, but probably fairly applicable across most of central to southern England. Feedback welcome! #Heteroptera sites.google.com/view/bedsbug...

Also Birmingham yesterday - a load of washed-out looking flies were Tricholauxania praeusta @josscarr.bsky.social (I don't have a direct contact for you Joss) @graemelyons.bsky.social

Species 8,559: Parna tenella, a small sawfly that creates leaf-mines/rolls in lime leaves, found during lunchbreak of yday's @nfbr.bsky.social conference in Birmingham. Guessed it was this, now keyed; black tegulae & all-yellow legs rule out P apicalis @graemelyons.bsky.social @josscarr.bsky.social