A big Roach! A rare fish at this size.

Acrotrichis intermedia spermatheca. #coleoptera #Ptiliidae

Tabanus autumnalis, the Large Marsh TV Horsefly, a rather impressive beast. #Diptera #Tabanidae

Beetles, the natural world, I love but the greatest pleasure in life, collecting my granddaughters from school and letting them loose down the green lane that takes them home.

Clematis vitalba still going strong mid October growing out of a Nottingham city wall. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

It’s always the same three Elmids found on any survey here in the East Midlands, Oulimnius tuberculatus, Elmis aenea and Limnius volckmari. Also present Orectochilus villosus and Nebrioporus elegans. #Elmidae #Coleoptera #Gyrinidae #Dytiscidae

Woolly Bear on the kitchen wall #Dermestidae #Coleoptera

Like little trilobites, larva of the common Riffle Beetle, Elmis aenea. #Coleoptera #Elmidae

It’s a no aquatic invert’ determination day today. Little snails contributing to the case of Ceraclea fulva. River Mease. #Trichoptera

@britmycolsoc.org.uk What’s this beautiful fungi growing from dead Salic caprea in my Nottinghamshire garden.

Wasps enjoying themselves before the first frosts feeding on a dead vole in the garden. #Hymenoptera #wasps

Not my usual fayre of carded beetle but a pinned fly and a rather scarce one of ancient woodland, Pandivirilia melaleuca. Stumbled across it whilst have a rummage, 2015, Worcestershire. #Diptera #Saproxylic #Therevidae

Male Bledius spectabilis,fantastic horned pronotum. A cracking Staphylinid beetle, Dorset. #Staphylinidae #Coleoptera

Timarcha tenebricosa a near certainty on any south-west coast path. #Chrysomelidae #Coleoptera

Little grains of sand on the move, Georissus crenulatus. This tiny beetle covers itself in sand. Decent bit of camouflage. #Coleoptera #Georissidae

Final wetland invertebrate survey of the year. Lost in a Midlands river.

British “wildlife” whilst out on an invert survey yesterday. Tame birds bred and released ready to be shot. Don’t know about shooting getting run over was more likely.

Gyrophaena, they all look pretty much the same until you dissect out the median lobes. I don’t much bother with a key, just find a male and whip its bits out. Here’s one from Gyrophaena fasciata. #Staphylinidae #Coleoptera #Beetle

What I really love about my hobby/job is I find beetles that I’m really not expecting, they come as a nice surprise amongst the more familiar. A good example is this tiny saproxylic Cyphea curtula (2 mm) pretty rare here in the UK. Lincolnshire woodland. #Staphylinidae #Coleoptera

Getting near to the end of the season, today’s little invertebrate escapade onto baked hard coal washings. Very little life at all.

Collected and pinned when I was a teenager, several decades ago. My Dad bought me a cabinet with some back pay, he worked for Rolls-Royce. Still have the cabinet and still have fond memories of youth. The site where the Clouded Yellows were taken is now a huge retail park on Crown Estate land.

Ivy has started to flower here in Notts.

Think the heat may have got to this Psyllobora in the pupal stage. Nice aberration. Derbyshire last week. #Coccinellidae #Ladybitd #Coleoptera

Wouldn’t, normally take Triplax russica but the middle of these three is smaller than that quoted in all the UK and European keys at 4.5mm. It is however russica and not something a little more interesting. Nottinghamshire woodland. #Coleoptera #Erotylidae other two shown are normal sized at 5.5mm.

Limnichus pygmaeus, a pretty rare beetle here in the UK. Likes a muddy ditch edge. This one from a Welsh ditch last week. It beat me, wasn’t in the best condition when I pootered it. I’ve spent an hour trying to set it neatly but to no avail. #Limnichidae #Coleoptera

Son’s compost bin currently producing a plethora of beetles at present; from left to right Holoparamecus caularum, Alphitophagus bifasciatus, Myrmechixenus Vaporariorum and Euplectus sanguineus #Coleoptera #Tenebrionidae #Endomychidae #Staphylinidae

Donacia marginata voucher specimen from this weeks survey of some Welsh Reens near Cardiff #Chrysomelidae #Coleoptera #Beetle

My son with a nice East Coast Cleethorpes Smoothhound, Mustelus mustelus. Rather common around our coasts during the summer where they come into shallow water hunting Shore Crab, especially those in a vulnerable state having peeled their exoskeleton.

Garden blackberry picking with my fearless three year old Granddaughter.

Colenis immunda and Cryptolestes ferrugineus, couple cheeky small fry from a recent woodland survey. #Coleoptera #Leiodidae #Laemophloidae

Surveying the Serengeti of Derbyshire last week. Pretty dry with the grass to tall to spot any Lion. Invertebrate life pretty average as well.

Lathrobium which is often your first thought in the field but Lobrathium multipunctatum instead. Nottinghamshire earlier in the week. #Staphylinidae #Beetle #Coleoptera One of those beetles you never find in any numbers.

Yep definitely a Sitona sp. AI not there yet.

Polygraphus poligraphus, a little beetle at 2.5mm I had not run into until last week. Apparently likes Norway Spruce. Lincolnshire Woodland. #Curculionidae #Beetle #Coleoptera

Compost bin current core temperature of 70 degrees Celsius. No wonder it holds several “naturalised” beetle species from warmer climes. #Coleoptera #Beetle over 100 beetles in last four days in the interception trap.

Brownfield site I’ve been working on today, I won’t say where, client confidentiality and all that but housing proposed to go on top of this early successional habitat of Bell Heather and Ling. couple finds, Birch Sawfly and Romualdius angustusetulus. #Curculionidae #Weevil #Symphyta #Sawfly #Beetle

And another little Pselaphinae from my most recent foray into the Lincolnshire Wolds, Bibloporus minutus, a little chunk at 1.3mm, the rarest of the two British species, bicolor was present as well. Slightly lighter in colour than normal, probably teneral. #Staphylinidae #Pselaphinae #Coleoptera

Euplectus infirmus, 1.3mm. Lincolnshire Wolds yesterday. #Staphylinidae #Pselaphinae #Euplectini up there as one of my favourite families.

Magnificent beast.

Yes I know I’ve put pictures up of this beetle before, it’s not rare, I’ve found it on multiple occasions in several English counties. It is however my type of beetle. Pselaphis heisei, Cumbrian wet meadow. #Pselaphinae #Coleoptera

Fresh as they come. #Dragonfly #Odonata

Leptura quadrifasciata, Cumbrian woodland edge. #Cerambycidae #Coleoptera #Beetle

Highlight of this weeks jaunt “up north” Tropiphorus obtusus, a definite northerner this one with very few southern records. #Curculionidae #Weevil #Beetle

Hygrobia hermanni larvae, from todays survey of a few Cumbrian ponds. #Coleoptera #Beetle

High summer, Rhagonycha fulva brightening up the Hydrangea. #Coleoptera #Cantharidae

Hybomitra sp. rescued from the pond. #Syrphidae #Diptera

Been a decent year here in the East Midlands for Small Tortoiseshell, not the numbers of my youth but still several at one time. #Butterfly #Nymphalidae @sjbknott.bsky.social

Garden Small Copper, it’s been many a year since I’ve seen so many butterflies in a garden setting. Here’s one of two Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) trying to boss the Marjoram

Polyommatus icarus (Common Blue) ova in the garden #Butterfly #Lycaenidae

Thirteen garden species today including 2nd brood Common Blue. Others enjoying this “summer of old” for butterflies, Large, Small and Green-veined whites, Holly Blue, Small Copper, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Small Skipper. #Butterfly #Lepidoptera