Developers WANT gradual release of new homes, so demand always outstrips supply to keep sales prices high. They use: 1 Land-banking - to prevent competitors building 2 Slow build-out - to keep demand high Reforms should focus on this dynamic, plus skills shortages, and minimising slow wet trades

Utterly disgusted by this dismal disappointment of a govt

The Government has tabled 67 last-minute amendments to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.‼️ Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system. It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed. (1/3)

Don't care about the massive damage done to native ecosystems by the constant release of vast numbers of invasive pheasants for shooting? Maybe you'll care about catching Lyme disease instead.

On yesterday's @kentfieldclub.bsky.social meeting at Castle Foote on the North Kent coast, I was really pleased to find the rare ground bug Henestaris halophilus in numbers across the saltmarsh. Habitat shot has notes in alt text. #bugs #truebugs #Hemiptera #KentNature @britishbugs.bsky.social

This is the story of my daughter Milly and Lyme Disease. There was no rash, no "summer flu", NHS blood tests negative. And she's been ill for a quarter of her life. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s... Thank you @lymediseaseuk.bsky.social & @lymeresourcecentre.bsky.social for raising UK awareness.

PLEASE READ! No more #BeeWashing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Spent the afternoon in part of the new North Kent Woods & Downs NNR. Was looking for Hop-garden Earwig (a no-show) but did find some nice bugs: Iassus scutellaris, Vernal Shieldbug Peribalus strictus & Asiraca clavicornis. #KentNature #NNR #bugs #Hemiptera @naturalengland.bsky.social

14 adult Trapezium Shieldbugs were found at Samphire Hoe, near Dover on 10th Aug 2025.

Counted 37 nymphs and 60 adult Striped Shieldbugs (Graphosoma italicum) at Ninefields, Waltham Abbey today. This has been the primary population this year, numbers down in other areas and no new spread to other nearby habitat patches that I have been checking. #EssexWildlife #UKBugs

Edwardsiana rosae. Common as muck, nightmare to I.D. :-) #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Cicadellidae

I’ve always wanted to see a Blue Shieldbug, Zicrona caerulea, and now I have! Saw this one on our walk at the weekend. Such a stunning little creature! #InsectThursday #Bugsky

Does this look good for Ortholomus punctipennis @britishbugs.bsky.social ? Brownfield site, South Cambs.

Finally made the pilgrimage to Purflleet for Sciocoris sideritidis and Southern Sickle-bearing Bush Cricket with @sjb2010.bsky.social today.

@britishbugs.bsky.social I think I’ve finally reached a conclusion on this bug I found at Spurn, is it just Megalonotus chigara? On the first photo it is on the right, with a specimen of M.chigara on the left. I was hoping it was a very lost Eremocoris plebejus but I think that’s wishful thinking

My first sighting of Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Mottled Shieldbug), in my S. Cambridgeshire garden this afternoon. A recent arrival to our shores, with the first mainland record in London in 2010. Following its rapid northwards expansion on the continent, it's doing the same here in the UK.

If you want to identify, well, anything, I recommend this post from @weevil-see.bsky.social. His choice of weevils to illustrate it is of course excellent, but it applies to everything from mushrooms to marsupials. This is how you can be a good identifier of things. [Link contains spider]

Delighted to come across Small Grass Shieldbug, Neottiglossa pusilla, at the weekend. Not common in #VC55. #Bugs #Hemiptera #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem

Mothing continues to be good here in S.Hants, with Lunar-spotted Pinion NFG last night, but top spot went to the ladybird Calvia decemguttata aka the Jersey Ladybird, I got one a couple of weeks ago but it escaped before I got a picture. #teammoth #Hantsmoths

Top film. The smartest look at this subject I've ever seen. Also funny and sweary. youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...

Two Lygaeid bugs, Arocatus roeselii and Oxycarenus modestus, tapped from Alder in Alphamstone, Essex TL8835 yesterday. Relatively recent arrivals from the continent.

These have gotta be Nezara viridula (Southern Green Shieldbug) surely? In my Norfolk garden, very few county records to date @britishbugs.bsky.social

Thought I'd post something about separating Nysius senecionis and graminicola, as both are now widespread. The features to focus on are the extent of the matt field of the evaporatory area (the brown bit) and the length of the 1st hind tarsal segment relative to the 2nd and 3rd.

@hwitts.bsky.social I noticed from the PSL website that you had Licinus punctulatus recently at Barking Riverside. Where exactly did you find it? I'd love to find this sp.

Very pleased to see a New Forest Shieldbug (Eysarcoris aeneus) at Matley Bog, Hampshire last Sunday; the highlight of a few days spent in the area. #NewForestWildlife #UKBugs

@britishbugs.bsky.social Hi Tristan I assume this is a long shot given location, (West Yorks), but how does it look for Sphragisticus nebulosus? I can’t decide between this and Peritrechus. Thanks, was in moth trap. Pronotum possibly too dark?

This is either genius ... or incredibly stupid We have hugely underestimated the importance of sound communication in Hemiptera (bugs). Read more: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/08/this... #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #video

Popped out into the garden for a quick sweep with the net, and almost immediately caught 3 Scarce Tortoise Shieldbugs. (I flipped them over to check). #shieldbugs #hemiptera #truebugs #Kentnature @britishbugs.bsky.social

Ochetostethus nanus is now probably well established in parts of East Anglia with records from Norfolk and Suffolk.

Hot nights lead to dispersal of other rare invertebrates. Sehirus morio on Friday night in Bengeo garden. Sehirus morio is european species of shieldbug present in UK in small numbers. It is similar to common Sehirus luctuosus but 25% larger. @britishbugs.bsky.social @bugmanjones.bsky.social

finally caught up with the impressive sphecid wasp Isodontia mexicana today in London

@britishbugs.bsky.social Something a bit different this time-just found this at work (garden centre). What on earth could it be?

Having had time to digest the new BNG consultation, I am *astounded* at the proposed changes to the small sites metric (SSM). If the changes are implemented, the SSM could apply to developments up to 49 dwellings/1ha - affecting a lot of developments! 1/ consult.defra.gov.uk/defra-biodiv...

Dicyphus pallidus (ex-Hedge Woundwort). #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55

Hot nights lead to long range invertebrate dispersal. Sometimes unusual species appear. Sphragisticus nebulosus found on Saturday night in Bengeo garden. This groundbug is normally associated with Breckland in East Anglia & likely to be new for Herts. @britishbugs.bsky.social #attractedtolight

Excellent visit to White Downs with @sjb2010.bsky.social yesterday produced 4 species of Cryptocephalus including C. nitidulus

Also, on Exmoor today. Adomerus biguttatus Cow-wheat Shieldbug. Only the 3rd time I've seen it. @britishbugs.bsky.social

@vc40orthops.bsky.social and I are pleased to announce the publication today of the “Micro ladybirds of Britain and Ireland”, in collaboration with the FSC: www.field-studies-council.org/shop/publica...

Oberea linearis out in numbers today on hazel at the north end of the Olympic Park, close to the Wick Woodland where it was found last year

Local wildlife. What I presume is a Pied Shieldbug (Tritomegas bicolor) on a platform shrub at West Norwood station this morning. #londonwildlife @britishbugs.bsky.social @bugmanjones.bsky.social @rlewington2.bsky.social

"No more ecological site surveys. No more mitigation hierarchy. No more protection of any ecosystem, however rare, valueable, irreplaceable. All a developer needs do is to put up some money to create a new ecosystem somewhere, and job done."

It just gets worse and worse. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

1. Because this issue is critical, but has received remarkably little coverage, here's a thread pulling out the key themes from my article yesterday, on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which puts decades of environmental protections to the torch. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

#speciesaday no. 580 is Cryptic Leatherbug (Bathysolen nubilus). I found this new to Sussex yesterday on a farm to the east of Brighton, vacuumed from species-rich grassland. Feeds on Black Medick. Only the second time I have seen it (other time was in London).

The sun yesterday brought out the Mottled Shieldbugs (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) with 3 adults seen soaking up the rays. The brash piles in the garden are a favourite haunt -as they are for many insects, the voles and the grass snakes. Northants.

A fab Ledra aurita (Eared Leafhopper) nymph from yesterday afternoon’s mooch in Shropshire #Homoptera #Leafhopper

Box Bug (Gonocerus acuteangulatus) on the garden ivy today, my second garden record. @ecorecord.bsky.social @britishbugs.bsky.social

Not really looking like a strong flyer, this flatbug landed in front of me as I was checking out another bug. Our pale-painted outside wall seems to act as a magnet for flying insects. #UKWildlife #Hemiptera

Staggering numbers of Lime Seed Bug (Oxycarenus lavaterae) seen clustered on a single lime tree in Shoeburyness, Essex today. Another newly arrived continental species. TQ92838660. Thanks to yvonnecouch.bsky.social for previous post. Reminded me of mussels clinging to rocks.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 559 is Campylosteira verna. A TINY lacebug (1.5 to 2 mm) that I rarely see. Always on the chalk and typically in places with lots of bare ground. Sluggish and hard to spot even in the tray.