Dark taxa are extremely diverse organisms that remain largely undescribed due to small size, subtle differences, & few experts. Take this quiz to find out what you are - I'm a gall midge! whatdarktaxonareyou.static.domains/insect-quiz.... by @vivianfeng.bsky.social & @flyliceresearch.bsky.social

#Ento25 our workshop: how to use taxonomic keys had a lot of enthusiasm, ‘some’ frustration #whatisit but with genuine engagement. Featuring test keys: Orthoptera & Dermaptera & of course Carabidae handbook with www.royensoc.co.uk/publications... with specimens from www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/ce...

The latest PoMS e-news went out yesterday, with updates on FIT Counts in 2025; news of a new UK butterfly; research on plants for pollinators; PoMS local projects; & some great forthcoming events. If you missed it you can read it at mailchi.mp/e73193cb8054... & subscribe at ukpoms.org.uk/subscribe

🍄Microfungi on insects🍄 Fungi in the genus Hesperomyces are associated exclusively with ladybirds, visible as yellowish-greenish elongated balloons. We aim to map them in Europe and describe #newspecies. Join the #FunDive campaign! #Biodiversa fun-dive.eu/en/get-invol...

Exciting visit from a Ruby-tailed wasp during my @pomscheme.bsky.social lunchtime FIT Count!

A stunning celebration of Scottish hoverflies from @scottshanks.bsky.social 😊👏#InsectWeek @royentsoc.bsky.social

As @royentsoc.bsky.social #InsectWeek begins, we’re excited to share the latest @pomscheme.bsky.social annual report 🐝🪰🪲 Explore this year’s findings and help us welcome The RHS as a new PoMS partner! 👏🏼 Planting a variety of flowers and creating diverse habitats is key for pollinators 🌼 🧵🧪 1/

The sun is shining for #FITcounts this weekend! On Sunday @pomscheme.bsky.social team enjoyed introducing families to the insect life on our community meadow, as part of The Springline Project @chilternsnl.bsky.social #MendtheGap We’d love to hear of other community events where you are 🐝☀️

A nonconformist upwards-facing Downlooker Snipefly 😂 @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social

It is such a pleasure to be with you all - I am having a wonderful time immersed in the worlds of entomology and mycology (a perfect pair) during this fabulous workshop on cryptic fungi - thank you so much for inviting me @ukceh.bsky.social @exeter.ac.uk

Ladybird lab at the Cryptic Fungi workshop going swimmingly! We were looking for Hesperomyces, a small fungus on ladybirds we caught yesterday. #VisegradFund #TeamLaboul

NEW PAPER from the GLiTRS team! 🎉 We review how best to use different types of evidence to better understand global insect declines 🦗🪳🪲🦋🐛🐜 "Integrating multiple evidence streams to understand insect biodiversity change" published in @science.org 🔗 tinyurl.com/mr35bdaa A summary 🧵 below (1/7)

Dr Miranda Bane (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) explains how a quick 10-minute FIT Count survey can help monitor pollinators and contribute to vital research.

The @ukceh.bsky.social PoMS team enjoyed their first FIT Counts of 2025 during the sunshine at lunchtime today! Great to be back in action again, look forward to seeing everyone's results during the coming months.

Common Mourning Bee (Melecta albifrons) visits Princes Risborough library in the hope of borrowing a Hairy-footed Flower-bee nest 🤣 (the mourning bees are parasites of the flower bees)

Send me records: I am excited to be taking on the role of national springtail recorder. I have huge shoes to fill, but I hope to continue the progress Peter Shaw made in understanding the taxonomy and biology of the UK's #springtails. www.brc.ac.uk/scheme/colle...

Many thanks to @neilmoths.bsky.social for compiling an excellent ID guide to nocturnal ichneumon #wasps and making it available via the Buckinghamshire Invertebrate Group website sites.google.com/site/bucksin... #MothTrapIntruders

Still a couple of weeks left to apply for this #PhD. How are pollinating #insects changing in the UK? This project will develop indicators for #pollinators using #citizenscience data. A collaboration between @ukceh.bsky.social, University of Reading and JNCC. tinyurl.com/3ve5szrh

🏵️🐝🦋 Our presenters got knee-deep in flowers earlier this year to hear which plants attract the most pollinators – those vital bees, butterflies, wasps, beetles, flies and moths – and why! Catch up with the buzz: https://buff.ly/4caMt0S #CountingTheEarth #12DaysOfChristmas

The more we know about Cecids the more amazing they turn out to be!

Butterfly fact 6. Eggs, larvae and pupae are eaten by a host of predators. But their biggest killers are parasitoids that can kill 90%+. This astonishing photo by @trichogramma74.bsky.social shows a Trichogramma on Large White eggs. It hitches a lift on ♀♀. Details in Butterflies from Bloomsbury.

Cool new paper by Joel Gibson et al., "Keys to the cabinets: unlocking biodiversity data in public entomology collections" dx.doi.org/10.4039/tce....

The 2.5mm, scarce scuttle fly Triphleba flexipalpis (Phoridae) a nice find beneath Beech trees in a Yorkshire Wolds wood yesterday. Impressive palps! #phoridae #diptera #ento #ukwildlife

Quote: "It is very hard to interpret big data in ecology in meaningful ways if you do not know anything about who the organisms are and what they do in the environment." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Elm launched today! Thank you to everyone who came to the workshop and helped us get started on our journey! If you want to know more this QR code will sign you up for information 👍🏻 #BES2024

ALDER will be at #BES2024 Meet the Networks today at 18:00 - come and find out about our plans for 2025! @britishecolsoc.bsky.social