🪰 We’re celebrating the UK’s flies! Flies don’t always get the appreciation they deserve. They play hugely important roles in our ecosystems, but they’re also amazing in their own right. They can be beautiful, colourful and wonderfully weird.

Lejops vittatus is a rare hoverfly associated with Sea Club-rush (see Roger Morris's blog stamfordsyrpher.blogspot.com/2017/11/lejo...). Today @tim-hodge.bsky.social & I found it at Bure Park, Yarmouth. Tim is keen for a wider search effort for this species if you know of an area with Sea Club-rush.

Buff Arches, Habrosyne pyritoides #teamMoth Same moth, same photoshoot, amazing how its scales reflect, refract, and diffract the light differently depending on angle of incidence

Help shape the future of the Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) 🌍 Apply to join our User Working Group and share your insights. Find out more: eidc.ac.uk/UserEngagement 🧪 #data #EnvironmentalScience

This morning in our garden - an Elephant Hawk-moth nectaring on the Lavender bush by our back door... #mothsmatter #teammoth

🐝 Wasps... complicated. Hyperparasitism? Kleptoparasitism? Inquilines? It's a good thing that Phil Bruss is here to clear things up, and explain why insects aren't just part of the scenery. Watch the full video here: buff.ly/wjKtMd0

There's been a lot of interesting bycatch in the Upton garden moth trap recently, but few things beat the fabulousness that is Ledra aurita: the Eared Leafhopper, very much living up to its name #bugs

A big day for PoMS today, with newly published pollinator trends based on PoMS survey data, and the publication of the PoMS Annual Report for 2025. See the thread below and download the Annual Report from ukpoms.org.uk/reports

This Musk Beetle (Aromia moschata) landed on me in the college garden today. Not a Longhorn I’ve seen before, it was absolutely stunning.

Still places on my guided walk next Sun 28 June at @bbowt.bsky.social Dancersend Extension. These fields ploughed during WWII grew cereals for 50yrs. Since 2011 we have restored chalk grassland and created a refuge for rare plants & insects - see how we are doing. Book at www.bbowt.org.uk/events

Did you know? The UK lost ¾ of its ponds in just one century 💧 Yet ponds support 2/3 of our freshwater species and urban ponds could be key to reversing the decline 🌎 🧪 Join Dr Rachel Walker to learn how to create & protect them 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1981358046... @barnescommon.bsky.social

🐞Why are ladybirds different colours? How long do they live? How many species are there?🐞Put your ladybird questions LIVE to expert Prof. Helen Roy. Join us: 7pm, Thurs 2 July as we chat all about these beautiful beetles. All welcome! https://ow.ly/LymX50Zf7JK University of Cambridge Museums

A zero FIT Count on White Clover today (honeybee and hoverfly seen but just outside the square 🙄), but did much better on Giant Scabious with plenty of bumblebees and hoverflies visiting 🙂 @pomscheme.bsky.social

Today at noon:

A lot of support and criticism for #NaturalHistoryGCSE on release of the curriculum for public consultation. consult.education.gov.uk/gcse-and-a-l... People: unite - don’t divide! Our kids (and the planet!) NEED nature education 🍀🦋🐝 @curlewaction.bsky.social www.curlewaction.org/nature-educa...

If you're in Leicester on Wednesday, come along and hear me yap about wasps: www.naturespot.org/node/266792

Large Yellow Underwing feeding on honeydew on a Hazel leaf this evening #TeamMoth

Some nice moths in the garden last night (Buckinghamshire), including Evergestis limbata (new to me), Acrobasis suavella and Phtheochroa rugosana #TeamMoth

🌍It's #CleanAirDay! Did you know, clean air is important for our health and – it’s crucial for wildlife 🐝Air pollution can change how flowers smell, confusing pollinators 🌿Vehicle emissions can block plant 'airways' 🌱Ammonia pollution can increase the spread of weeds

Last week, @nhm-london.bsky.social hosted APPG Bees, Pollinators & Invertebrates, showcasing entomological collections to parliamentarians ahead of #InsectWeek. Special thanks to Erica McAlister & John Jackson 🪰 Read more about the APPG 🔽

Volucella pellucens on and off Bramble at the weekend. #WildWebsWednesday #Diptera #Hoverflies

This is an excellent article about ticks in Scotland (relevant for ticks elsewhere too).

"Whose Larva Is This?" A quick guide to figure out what you're looking at when you find something that resembles a worm or a Zerg unit crawling around. #insect #bug #education #SciArt

Purbeck Mason Wasps are one of the most endangered invertebrates in Britain. New blog at: vitrealis.blogspot.com/2026/06/purb... #naturewriting #inverts #wasps #heathlands

Nomada zonata ♂ feeding on Bramble (Rubus sp.) today in Bengeo garden. This cuckoo bee, whose host is Andrena dorsata, was 1st recorded in UK in 2016 & has dramatically expanded its range since.

Mompha idaei, a new British species. Last week photos of what appeared to be this species were posted to a regional moths facebook group from NE Scotland. I travelled up to the site today to meet Dr Mark Young and see if we could re-find and verify. In total 11 individuals were found #teammoth

Our evolutionary tree for all world bumblebees paper on the cover of Insects! One conclusion: males with enlarged eyes and short antennae are evolutionarily convergent which may be associated with truly territorial mate-searching behaviour (competing for perches) www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Took this photo of Common Vetch in my garden lawn simply for the beauty of the flower, but realised that it also shows an ant feeding from one of the vetch's extra-floral nectaries - the nectaries attract ants, and the ants ward off other insects that might feed on the plant #wildflowerhour

I've started to see a few more adult psyllids around recently. These ones are Trioza urticae, the only UK species associated with nettles, and when present often relatively easy to spot. The colouration (dark above and below with pale greeny-yellow sides) is typical. #NorfolkPsyllids

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

Dipterist Forum are running a new series of online training courses with those nice people @biologicalrecording.co.uk We're kicking off with 'Surveying for Flies' ideal for beginners or if you want to tighten up your field craft skills. More information in the link: dipterists.org.uk/events/surve...

Tiny Spiny Broom Aphid (a.k.a. Broom Hedgehog Aphid), Ctenocallis setosa. Found by @vannabartlett.bsky.social in a garden in Norwich today. influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Cten... One of "Norfolk's Wonderful 150". (150 species chosen in 2020 to celebrate 150 years of NNNS. @norfolknats.bsky.social

@britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @tylanberry.bsky.social More spiders on the move. Enoplognatha mordax, moving inland from the coast, a first for me and maybe VC24 too. Meanwhile, Theridion pinastri and Macaroeris are busy establishing themselves in the south of the county

Chamomile Shark at East Malling this evening, dining on Ox-eye Daisy. #TeamMoth #kentnature

More a wasp bank than a bee bank: a 3m section of exposed Devon hedge bank with a marvellous diversity of hymenopteran life. Just a small selection here, names in ALT texts. Topsham, Devon. @melcoate.bsky.social #hymenoptera

Went for a wander round the garden late last night, to find Large Yellow Underwing moths partying on the flowers. No other species seen, just lots of LYUs 😀 #TeamMoth

Sat watching the Mullein Moth larva for a bit, then it headed off after feeding...

It's that time of year again! and much like the Flower Crab Spiders, Spider Spies is coming out of hibernation and running a second year. So if you want to be involved in investigating these colourful spiders and their flower using habits head over to our website foragingecology.com/spider-spies/

All fear the Purple Emperor!

A stunning Thick-legged Flower beetle (Oedemera nobilis). This is a male... the females look more gold/green and lack the swollen thighs. The larvae of this beetle live inside the stems of thistles and other plants - so a good reason not to tidy everything up in your garden too early in Spring!

Teneral Physocephala rufipes ♂ found today on flowerbed wall in Bengeo garden, fascinating then to watch it change to its full adult colour over next hour. P.rufipes is most wasp-like of conopid parasitoid flies. @flygirlnhm.bsky.social

Volunteers are at the heart of BTO. 🐦 We couldn't achieve what we do for birds, science & people without you. Thank you! Here's a snapshot of what some of our survey volunteers have achieved 🙌 From Regional Reps to BTO Youth, there's a variety of volunteer roles at BTO➡️ www.bto.org/volunteer

We were delighted by the chance to nominate @mickdjones.bsky.social through the Buckinghamshire Lieutenancy to attend the annual Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace 💂 The nomination was for individuals who had shown an outstanding commitment to their charities.

We are so proud of Pete Stroh (BSBI Scientific Officer) & Helena Crouch ( #BSBICountyRecorder & #BSBItrustee)! Yesterday they were awarded the hugely prestigious 2026 Marsh Botany Award by the Marsh Charitable Trust for services to UK botany! Here's why: www.marshcharitabletrust.org/award/marsh-...

🐝 Want to survey pollinators with confidence? Join the self‑paced Surveying for Pollinators course with Pollinator Specialist @jeffollerton.bsky.social. Learn techniques & study design for effective monitoring, for ONLY £12.50. 📌 Enrol: courses.biologicalrecording.co.uk/courses/surv...

Support our libraries!

Ooh, we do love a new #WildFlowerID resource and this online fern identifier 👇 by @fernleaf07.bsky.social looks very interesting. Here are some more fern ID resources we know of: bsbi.org/learn/resour... Any others? @joshual951.bsky.social @duckinwales.bsky.social @phoebe-poodle.bsky.social

I was really happy to see & capture this lovely courtship of these Cryptic wood white #butterflies on a roadside verge.

I trapped my first D. alpinana of the year on Friday, and this evening I saw two more on an ox-eye daisy leaf. #teammoth #wildlifegarden #moths