TISSUE! Triphosa dubitata. The first of this season's adults have arrived in underground in Scotland. A moth I still get excited about each and every time I find one 😀 It was hanging out with "a wisdom" of Old Lady. Also very lovely. #HibernatingHeralds #MothsMatter

What an impressive insect! Urocerus gigas, Giant Woodwasp, a species I've long wanted to see and it didn't disappoint. Four females ovipositing on a logpile today, Berwickshire.

135 Rannoch Brindled Beauty on a fencepost-focused hike in Glen Prosen last weekend with @markcubitt.bsky.social About 100 more than we've recorded in the previous few years! 🧡🤍🖤 #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

Enjoyed a quick poke around some magnificent old oaks this morning. Was rewarded by a single smart Phosphuga atrata. Hope to be back in search of some woody specialists soon. And moths, obvs. #DalkeithCountryPark

No anemones for me today, but I have finally remembered to post for #WildflowerHour! Primrose and Scurvy Grass blooming plentifully on some glorious Berwickshire coastline this afternoon.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=4mi2... To mark #IWD25 National Museums Scotland have produced this video of me and @ashwhiffin.bsky.social talking about insects, moths, recording and museums and the legacy of Alice Blanche Balfour (1850-1936). #MothsMatter @savebutterflies.bsky.social

2 Oak Beauty in local woods yesterday - at least doubling the number ever recorded in E.Lothian. Also 📷 of Yellow Horned, Twin Spotted Quaker, Clouded Drab & Engrailed. Oak B is exciting by its rarity here, but a fresh Engrailed is hard to beat. #MothsMatter

A morning hanging around some veteran oak and beech in neglected parkland habitat, #EastLothian Lots of broken limbs, burrs, excrescences and decay. Vapourer eggs, Phosphuga atrata, Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. Segestria senoculata - just a few of the things discovered.

Counting hibernating Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix), 49 of them, in a cave in Roslin Glen. Also Cave Spider (Meta menardi) and her silken pearl-shaped egg sac suspended from an overhang. @scotwildlife.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social

Review of the butterfly and moth research on actions shows most evidence covers butterfly conservation, focuses on community-level responses, originates from UK and USA, from studies using least robust designs, assesses actions about agriculture. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The fungus from a week ago has grown!😲 #HibernatingHeralds

Long overdue outing with @markcubitt.bsky.social checking up on his local #HibernatingHeralds and soaking up some misty winter tree vibes. Highlight = TWO (yes, 2!) Tissue - mega rare moth in Scotland this year. But mainly it was just good to be outside, in the toe-numbing dreichness. #MothsMatter

Tomorrow millions of flowers will be shared for #ValentinesDay & by end of month (sorry, party-pooper alert) they'll all be in the bin. If your beloved loves #wildflowers, why not give them the gift of BSBI membership, so they can support our wonderful wildflowers for a whole year! bsbi.org/join-us

#HibernatingHerald find of the day! In a Scottish copper mine. This is the first time I've seen a Herald engulfed in a candyfloss like beard of a fungi. Very different to the usual entomopathenogenic fungi we see on moths in caves. Anyone know what it might be? #fungi #mycelia #insect #cave #moth

We're hiring! Could you help create a resilient future for the Botanical Society, working across our teams to support staff and volunteers? Apply to become our first ever Administration Officer: bsbi.org/vacancies/ad... Not applying yourself? Then please help us spread the word! Deadline: 2nd March

There's a full-time position as Ecologist (with botanical skills) and Field survey co-ordinator advertised here at @ukceh.bsky.social. Full details here: ceh.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CEH_Ca...

#LiteratureNotice Zoltán et al. Relationships Between Saproxylic Beetle Microhabitat Occurrences and Forest State Indicators doi.org/10.3390/f160... #Beetle #Beetles #Biodiversity

Dancing over duckweed at dusk! #WorldWetlandDay Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata) is a moth with aquatic larvae. I saw my first last year, at Bawsinch SWT Edinburgh. We had close-up views in light traps in the morning, but even better was watching them doing their thing at dusk 🤍 #MothsMatter

Really nice to see the Dataset's Dream taking flight again at the @ukceh.bsky.social offices today. There are plans to take it out on location later in the year, and in the meantime find out more at www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/...

Agree. Mark and Roy's book, The Larger Moths of Scotland highly recommended 👌 🦋🐛 #TeamMoth

A very interesting Moth recorders conference today. light pollution big topic Give DarkSky (sustainable lighting) we need a DarkSky policy in the Stroud District? @minchchloe.bsky.social @cllrgillthomas.bsky.social @simonforstroud.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @darkskyintl.bsky.social

For #BlueBugs Monday it has to be the lovely Clifden Nonpareil. I'm lucky this big, furry, flappy moth has taken up residence in nearby woods. Those wings! Memories of sharing these blue (&grey &black) beauties with good friends brings a smile to my face. 100% joy! 😊 💙 🦋 #MothsMatter #MothMonday

Final wrap-up webinar for the UK_Treescapes project 'TreE PlaNat': Creating woodland through natural processes 🌳🌳 Monday 20th January 2025 at 12.30-2pm. Click events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b36709... to sign up. Further info, blogs, webinars, factsheets @ www.naturalcolonisation.co.uk

Calling researchers of tree-dwelling European mammals (bats, dormice, squirrels..). Let's collaborate! Planning a workshop at Eur Mammal Congress on forest management, #wildfires and interventions (veteranisation, boxes etc) for future paper and actions. www.ecm9.com Pls share. 🌍🌳🦇🐿🐭 #conservation

Looking forward to sharing some mothy adventures in a talk to Yorkshire BC branch later this month. Expect HH, plus lots of photos to remind us of warmer times of year! Free, online & all welcome. Check out the other upcoming talks too 🦋 #MothsMatter #TeamMoth www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meetings-w...

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

New spider book!🕷 @rlewington2.bsky.social has produced this beautiful guide to some of our UK species. A while ago I provided 'models' of cave-dwelling sps. V. happy to get a copy of the finished book as thanks😊 Buy it. And make 2025 the year you get into spiders! @britishspiders.bsky.social

Herald, Scoliopteryx libatrix, overwintering in a Scottish cave. A widespread moth that can be discovered throughout the winter, whatever the weather. All you need is a torch 🔦and a dark place. #HibernatingHeralds #MothsMatter #MothMonday

I've been researching the work of Alice Balfour (1850-1936) but there are other women with impressive lepidopteran legacies at National Museums Scotland. Dorothy Jackson (1892-1973) began her ento career young & on moths. She left AMAZING records & paintings! A research idea for '25?🤞#MothsMatter

I'd recommend this read! I wasn't sure if I'd like it - not my 'usual' fare - but it was really good and the characters have stayed with me more than a year (or 2) on. =Impressive for my ageing brain!!

Ento collections are a really useful resource for current research & conservation AND give a glimpse into insects (&entomologists) of the past. Endlessly fascinating! Here is some of what FR has been up to recently, curating all their specimens 👇 👏

Some of today's fun in highland Perthshire: ❄ Hair ice (I found some at last!) 🏔 lots of searching rock crevices... 🦋 ...eventually a single Herald in a small tunnel. 📚 Meetings with Moths on sale

After 18 years of dedicated service, I'm retiring from my role as Butterfly Conservation's Senior Data Officer at the end of 2024. It's been a privilege working alongside passionate, dedicated people and being entrusted to build and manage the National Moth Recording Scheme database. >>> #TeamMoth

Trawling photos for an upcoming talk, I 'rediscovered' this Herald from Feb 2023. During 8 years of the #HibernatingHerald survey I have seen (& counted) 12,000+ Heralds. This the only one patterned differently. (See photo of 'normal' moth to compare) #MothMonday #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

All welcome at Butterfly Conservation’s free online UK Moth Recorders' Meeting (Saturday 25 January 2025 on Zoom). Reserve your place now bit.ly/3Z2MOzc There’s a fab line-up of speakers: bit.ly/3Z2MxfE #TeamMoth please repost to spread the word!

Sometimes an insect specimen will have me thinking: HOW ARE YOU EVEN REAL?! Today, that was the Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) #Museums #Invertebrates 🧪

Ooo - this looks a must see for anyone in #TeamMoth. Check out the trailer and what a moth sheets is like in the eastern Himalayas 😭 www.theguardian.com/film/2024/de...

For #InsectWeek24 I was part of a panel event at National Museums Scotland, celebrating women in entomology. Bringing together science, history & art; moths & moth recording, past & present - recording available here!👇 youtu.be/xgpV3Sn0uNI?... @savebutterflies.bsky.social @ashwhiffin.bsky.social

Look out for this moth, the Herald, overwintering in your garage, shed or outbuildings. They will find a dark dry spot to hide. Can be seen almost all year round in the UK. #moths

The #HibernatingHerald season continues, collecting annual counts from sites across SE Scotland. Today a lengthy lunch break to treat a lucky friend to a spot of culvert crawling. 19 Heralds counted and then coffee and chat in the sunshine. Perfect. #MothsMatter

Beautiful moth; fantastic museum resource; brilliant entomologists - hopefully Kentish Glory populations can be helped to recover 🦋

Rare in Scotland, Mistletoe (Viscum album) grows very near where I stay in Edinburgh, but also in a cemetery in the city, growing here on Lime (Tilia). Recorded on iRecord at #CemeteryWildlifeWatch activity. @persmiseth.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @naturelark.bsky.social

An after-dark woodland stroll with a torch is worth it at any time of year. 🔦 Last night on some #EastLothian Sycamores: 🤍mating Winter Moths 🐞hibernating Orange Ladybirds 🕷hunting Drapetisca socialis. Plus harvestmen, woodlice, earwig, slugs, snails, flies, owl... Try it!

Enter the British Lichen Society's photo competition! The categories this year are: 'Close encounters' and 'Lichenscapes'. Two free entries per person. Full details: britishlichensociety.org.uk/the-society/...

Thank you @ashwhiffin.bsky.social 💚 & love this photo of me and @markcubitt.bsky.social doing some moth nerding together 🤓 Happy days!

📢 NEW PhD opportunity: Peatlands, plants, and pollinators. This exciting project will use population genetics & landscape info to inform conservation management strategies for the endangered Large Heath butterfly across Scotland's peatlands. 👇🏼 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Let's make my first post here a #HibernatingHerald post! A few Heralds from recent culvert crawlings, as I do my annual counts. I've now spent the past 8 winters sloshing through tunnels and crouching in caves in search of moths... not bored yet! #MothsMatter #TeamMoth #MeetingsWithMoths