A lovely trip down to Studland in Dorset, kept an eye out for Beavers but no luck, but did find some of my favourite spiders; Attulus saltator, Thomisus onustus, Rhysodromus histrio and Alopecosa barbipes (in almost Sandbear colours)

Tansy fun; I was photographing Colletes (similis?) and noticed a tiny Gall Midge, Ozirhincus hungaricus laying eggs in its florets, then coming along behind its parasitoid wasp Inostemma (reticulatum?) with an odd black pudding structure on its back housing a long ovipositor to parasitise them.

The Brown One. Harvestman, Nelima gothica exploring the wall in the garden in Shaftesbury. #gardenfinds #harvestman #dorset

A dapper chap from the garden in Shaftesbury this week, no females seen yet. Ornate Tailed Digger Wasp - Cerceris rybyensis

Seems to be lots of these in the garden in Shaftesbury at the moment. Never seen them before, enjoying the hot dry weather under the pine tree perhaps!

A tiny Spitting Spider, Scytodes thoracica cropped up in the kitchen this morning, one of my favourites!

Just back from a holiday in Italy and if I could bring back two species to join UK wildlife they would be the European Rhinoceros Beetle, Oryctes nasicornis and its Mammoth Wasp parasite, Megascolia maculata #biginsects

A male Bee Grabber from Eype, this one is probably Thecophora atra

A new one for me from Eype on the South Dorset coast, a great place for new stuff. This is Micropeza corrigiolata a Stilt Legged Fly.

I have seen the non-native Wall Lizards, Podarcis muralis on the Purbeck coast of Dorset before but on a sunny day this week I got to take some photos for the first time. So beautiful!

Really excited and surprised to find this one in the garden in Shaftesbury today. A female Scarce Chaser, Libellula fulva. I think she must have flown miles to the hill top here from her slow flowing river and dyke habitat!

Another bright visitor to the garden in Shaftesbury, this one is a Handsome Fungus Beetle, Endomychus coccineus, sometimes called a False Ladybird. #gardenfinds #beetles

Some harvestmen from the garden in Shaftesbury, who stopped to pose for portraits. This is fairly normal for the three pictures of Rilaena triangularis but I was pleased to find a still Nemastoma bimaculatum, as these are usually always on the go! #gardenfinds #harvestman

Despite the cold weather yesterday, a bit of sunshine brought out a smart little spider at Higher Hyde Heath. This is a subadult male Euophrys pretensis, he’ll look even more striking next month! #spiders #heathfinds

One of my favorite spiders, from Great Ovens Heath in Dorset, the Sand Bear Spider, Arctosa perita. Because of its wonderful camouflage it will occasionally freeze, which is a great help to the photographer! #spiders

One of my favourite spiky Harvestmen, found at Fontmell Down, Dorset, Homalenotus quadridentatus.

One that popped up in my bedroom yesterday, the Twenty-plume Moth, Alucita hexadactyla. #gardenfinds #moths # feathers

Some finds from the garden in Shaftesbury yesterday. #gardenfinds #invertebrates These are 1. A woodlouse-like fly larva, Lonchoptera species, 2. A centipede-like Symphylan, Symphylella species probably vulgaris 3. A Springtail, Kalaphorura burmeisteri & 4. A Rosy Woodlouse, Androniscus dentiger

A bit of clear weather and I have been able to find a pseudoscorpion that I've not found in the garden in Shaftesbury before. The Reddish Two-Eyed Chelifer, Roncus lubricus. #gardenfinds

One idea for the New Year is to extend my photography and recording beyond invertebrates, I feel as yet overwhelmed by plants and fungi but will make a start on some vertebrates. Here are some probable Marsh Tits, Poecile palustris to start the ball rolling.

A new species for the garden and for me, and it suddenly seems to be everywhere. I think this is Megamelodes quadrimaculatus.

Two of my favourite snails from the garden in Shaftesbury yesterday. The Hairy Snail, Trochulus hispidus and the Winter Semi-Slug, Vitrina pellucida. #gardenfinds #snails

Spider fungus! The last time I found this type of fungus the spider was still moving in a "Zombie" way, this one was already deceased. I think this was a Tegenaria species spider infected with Gibellula pulchra.

A new Flatworm for me, this was from Great Ovens Reserve, Dorset today. It is the non-native Australoplana sanguinea

The walls at work in Wincanton, Somerset always throw up a few harvestmen. Today it was only Dicranopalpus sp. In the past the males I've check here have been about 50% D. ramosus o and 50% D. caudatus, so these are Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. A male and three females.(FMFF) #harvestmen

A first post on Bluesky I thought I'd post some Flatworms from the garden in Shaftesbury. #Platyhelminthes #Gardenfinds