Christmas nut roast with layers of Stilton and cranberry sauce. #food #nom What, it's January already?

Recommended follow: Chris Raper bsky.app/profile/chri... Let's welcome him to Bluesky.

Looking forward to @bsbibotany.bsky.social's #NewYearPlantHunt which starts tomorrow! 🌼 Here in #Leicestershire, the #Leicester Botany Group has organised a group hunt on Thursday 1st January, meeting at 11am. Everyone is very welcome! Further details: bsbi.org/take-part/ev...

Entomology Update - December 2025 A bumper edition this month, reflecting how much time I've spent in front of a screen and how little outdoors: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/ento... #Bugs #Leicester #Leicestershire #Hemiptera #VC55 #environment #nature #Arachnids #Spiders

Marasmius siccus mushroom growing on decaying leaf. Photo by Christine Griskalia.

Something gnawed your oak tree? Sink hole in your road? How Zurich’s beaver hotline is reassuring residents

Bah, Humbug! Chilly December memories of a warm day in May. Hypsosinga pygmaea. #Arachnids #Spiders #VC55

Entering my 2025 #VC55 @britishspiders.bsky.social #Spider Recording Scheme data, accompanied by open.spotify.com/playlist/0Kp...

#Arachnids #Spiders

My latest paper is now published in an issue! We showcased the incredible scientific contributions that local and amateur naturalists make for research on long term change! 💚🌍 doi.org/10.1111/icad...

Leafhoppers vs AI - checking on progress Read more: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/leaf... #Bugs #Hemiptera #AI

Ho ho ho! A Christmas Jumper The newest spider to be recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland has got its Christmas jumper on. Learn more: www.naturespot.org/species/phil... (although it was actually recorded in June!) #Arachnids #Spiders #VC55

BBC Farming Today: "For the price of a 1st class stamp you can buy 21kg of carrots from Aldi or Lidl" www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... #Food #foodsecurity

#BestSpamEver I've been invited to join the Illuminati. #lol

Well, there's cephalic modification and there's cephaplic modification, but I've never seen anything as crazy as this outside the #Linyphiidae. #Arachnids #Spiders

Bravo #Spotify, more insect podcasts than you can shake a stick at. #Bugs #Entomology #Podcasts

We've been mined NatureSpot data has been mined by all the major AI players, ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. Is this good or bad? Learn more: www.naturespot.org/node/263486 #AI #environment #nature #Wildlife

1776: Dark & moist, grey.

So many Bristly Ladybirds, Rhyzobius lophanthae, overwintering in evergreens in #VC55 this year. Seems to have been an explosion in numbers - weather? #Beetles #Coleoptera

Are you interested in learning more about identifying plant pathogens in the wild? Come along to my webinar at 7pm on the 27th of January! bsbi.org/take-part/ev... #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease

14 Spot Ladybird, Propylea quattuordecimpunctata. #Beetles #Coleoptera #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem

Hay meadows once covered the UK; now 97% are gone! 🌾 Join us to explore how traditional management can bring these rich habitats back. Hay Meadow Restoration webinar with Carol Edmondson on Thursday, 29th January 2026. Sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1821584400... @forestofbowlandnl.bsky.social

Antidote: www.theguardian.com/environment/... I still find this almost unbelieveable, but spraint don't lie.

Have you checked out our 4th edition of the popular Field Guide to the Smaller Moths of Great Britain and Ireland yet? Free to download in 3 digital formats!

Western Conifer Seed Bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis. #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55

Spiderz

Oligolophus hanseni. #Arachnids #Opiliones #VC55

A mid-snack temporary cold-induced stupor allowed me time to capture these water droplets resting on the springtails hydrophobic (water proof) skin. Immature Hemitrichia / Trichia species pictured with Collembola - Neanura muscorum feeding/sleeping. #myxomycetes #collembola #macronature

The spiders of Great Britain and Ireland: 2025 checklist ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-... #Arachnids #Spiders

A blast from the past. #VC55Moths #VC55 #TeamMoth #Moths

Ancient Chinese proverb "May you have 1,000 backups you'll never need".

Struggling with shaky hands at the moment - pin spheres are super helpful for examining pinned specimens. My colleague made this but check out Richard's ArthroSphere: www.arthropods.co.uk/ArthroSphere... #maybeitssertraline #entomology #ssri #endthestigma

How #fungi sense and respond to light. Primer in our current issue👇 www.cell.com/current-biol...

Another superb edition of the @britishspiders.bsky.social Newsletter, a member benefit of joining the BAS: britishspiders.org.uk The Newsletter Team is doing a great job! #Arachnids #Spiders

The story of Leicestershire's woodlands A new multimillennial analysis of woodland in Leicestershire shows anthropogenic stress over six millennia. Learn more: www.naturespot.org/node/263096 Photo AJ Cann #Landscape #Leicester #Leicestershire #Rutland #environment #ecology #Archaeology

The Invisible Bug? An appreciation of Cardiastethus fasciiventris. #Video: youtu.be/fiupgUPR218 #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55

Dioxyna bidentis. #Diptera #VC55

#bugs #Hemiptera #Miridae

Microneta viaria. #Arachnids #Spiders #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem

Outstanding customer service from Brunel Microscopes: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/outs... #Microscopy

The more I learn about Linnaeus ... the happier I am I didn't have to work for him.

Cardiastethus fasciiventris. #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Anthocoridae #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem

If you're looking for a Christmas card image, I'd suggest you couldn't do much better than this one. Mouse Spider, Scotophaeus blackwalli. #Arachnids #Spiders #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem

Google Scholar Labs - literature search in a box? Google has rolled its Gemini AI into Google Scholar - "Scholar Labs" - a literature search in a box. Read more: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/goog... #Google #AI

The subtle effects of the climate crisis. Read more: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-... #Bugs #Hemiptera #Miridae #Climate

Winter leafhoppers. Empoasca vitis Eupteryx urticae Linnavuoriana sexmaculata Ribautiana debilis #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Cicadellidae

Entomology Update - November 2025 Rain, frost and the start of meteorological winter feels like winter, which is good - without winter there is no spring. Read more: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/ento... #Insects #Leicester #Leicestershire #Entomology #nature #UKWildlife

What, *Another* Microscope? A second attempt at upgrading my compound microscope. Read more: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/12/what... #equipment #microscopy

The Secret World of Spider Webs www.thamesandhudson.com/products/the... #Arachnids #Spiders #Books