Will George

I find it entirely baffling that anyone would think that not capitalising species names is a sensible course of action.

A brown shieldbug sat on a brick wall

First shieldbug of the year! It's not a green shieldbug but it is a Green Shieldbug!

A reddish fly sitting on a daffodil leaf. The legs are heavily bristled.

A map of Bedfordshire with red squares showing the known distribution of Norellia spinipes in the county.

First Norellia spinipes of the year on the garden daffs today. Funky little dung-flies that munch leafs instead of dung (well the larvae do anyway). Probably on some daffodils near you, and much more widespread in Bedfordshire than this map suggests. No photo today, so here's one from a while ago.

iRecord is really important as a repository for UK wildlife/nature records, including casual records, surveys and trapping, and non-native species. This is well worth doing 👇

Pretty easy to do with a bit of qgis and the umap tool, happy to show you

A screenshot of a pop-up on a map, showing the number of records, species, most recent record and list of taxa for a 1km square

oo, data-y goodness

Fun times on a Friday night playing with interactive maps... umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/bedfo...

Sesiidae, the "Clearwing Moth" family, might be one of my favorite lep families

I've only seen 5 species so far, but they've all been BEAUTIFUL👏

1 Euryphrissa sp, Colombia
2 Synanthedon scitula, Oklahoma
3 Synanthedon chrysidipennis, Montana
4 Vitacea scepsiformis, Oklahoma

A Fiery Clearwing moth with red dusted wings and a funky orange stripe in the middle of the tail,

A Hornet Clearwing sitting on a purple knapweed flower. The moth is patterned like a wasp

A Raspberry Clearwing moth, sitting on a raspberry leaf. The moth has black and yellow stripes across the body and clear wings

Clearwings are amazing, here's a few that I've seen in the UK

I'm eternally envious of people who manage to get good springtail photos - they're just too small for my set-up to achieve anything other than record shots, but it's still fun finding and identifying them

A top down view of a brown springtail with black markings. The body is long and thin, and the black markings towards the tail do not form a complete U, so this is Entomobrya intermedia.

A blurry photo of a very small springtail with a black body with two white bands and an orangey tail. This is Entomobrya albicincta

A largely red coloured globular springtail on a black reflective background. This is Dicyrtoma fusca

Classic February entomologising of shaking ivy and seeing what falls out. Answer, lots of very small springtails which can be photographed to various degrees of blurriness. Entomobrya intermedia, Entomobrya albicincta and Dicyrtoma fusca - probably all in a hedge near you...

Green Leaf-hopper, Cicadella viridis. Male left, female right.

Leafhoppers & Allies: identification, ecology and recording - Alan Stewart
Thursday 19/02/2026, 19:30, online via Zoom
Book here: www.naturespot.org/node/262956
#Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Auchenorrhyncha
Please share!

A slide showing information about the lacebug Catoplatus fabricii. There is an image of the species (a small brown bug with mesh like structures at the edge of the abdomen. The text on the slide reads A medium sized species of lacebug which is strongly associated with Ox-eye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare. The thorax is rather narrow behind the head, and lacks the meshes on the margins found in other lacebugs. The third antennal segment is the same width as the fourth. A very scarce species in Bedfordshire, with only one recent record. Should be looked for where Ox-eye Daisies are found, especially in dry, sunny situations on calcareous soils. Adults over-winter in moss close to the host plant.

A new species added to the Bedfordshire bug slides, with the lacebug Catoplatus fabricii, a rather lovely creature brilliantly found and photographed by @markgurn.bsky.social last year. See all the slides here www.flickr.com/photos/runne...

Yeah, I thought the very thick plastic bin would do the trick, but the holes gnawed in the lid tell me otherwise. I'll be chucking the remaining food in there, and finding an alternative storage location.

I'm afraid I didn't detain them to check, although I imagine they've scampered straight back into the bag!

A view into a large bag of peanuts. In one corner a small mouse is hiding

A very indignant mouse, informing me that they know their rights under the housing of mice act 1987, and that I will shortly be hearing from their lawyer

Apparently I've been running a bed and breakfast for mice in my garage

Next you'll be going from Nero to zero

A montage of the 14 species of pseudoscorpion that I recorded in Norfolk in 2025. All except one I found myself although one other was from a site that it had been previously recorded from so I new where to look.

A map of Norfolk with orange circles showing where I recorded a pseudoscorpion during 2025.

2025 was the year of the pseudoscorpion as far as I'm concerned. I managed to see 14 species in Norfolk, mostly by cycling round to various churchyards but I also got a lift out to a few places by car. Over 100 churchyards visited by bicycle though. Photo montage of species, map of 2025's records.

All distractions from the ever growing realisation of just how far a marathon is are very welcome, and it's for a really good cause.

Have you checked for scale insects on the ivy? www.naturespot.org/species/vibu...

Ha, well spotted, I'll get that fixed!

A slide about the Southern Green Shieldbug, Nezara viridula, in Bedfordshire, with images and a map. The text reads The southern European counterpart to the familiar Green Shieldbug, which has recently been recorded in Bedfordshire for the first time. In common with the Green Shieldbug, adults are uniformly green for most of the year, but go a dull brown colour when over-wintering. There are always three white dots across the bas of the scutellum, and the wing membrane is clear, not darkened. Nymphs are very different looking, being boldly patterned with white and red markings. Likely to be found more widely in the county in the coming years.

A slide about the Vernal Shieldbug, Peribalus stictus, in Bedfordshire, with images and a map. The text reads A medium-sized shieldbug that is rather non-descript in appearance at first glance, with a yellowish-brown body colour. On closer inspection, the bright orange antennae with two black bands, along with the yellow tip to the scutellum and banded connexivum, readily distinguish this from other similarly sized species. Formally a very rare species in the UK, with one historic record in Bedfordshire, it has recently undergone a northward range expansion, with individuals being recorded on two dates at a site in Bedfordshire in 2025.

Starting 2026 by adding a couple of Bedfordshire shieldbug slides. Southern Green Shieldbug was new to the county in 2025, and Vernal had its first record since 1993. See all the slides here www.flickr.com/photos/runne...

Two cup shaped mushrooms growing in a plant pot. The edges of the cup are gilled, and the top of the mushroom is purple with white markings

Anyone got any idea what this mushroom in a pot with Lady's Mantle (I think) at Wimpole National Trust (UK) might be? #Fungi #Fungus

Endemic Meet the rare, obscure and utterly British species found nowhere else on earth.Around 70,000 species call Britain home, but how many of them can be found here a…

If you're a naturalist looking for a great book, or someone looking for a present for a naturalist, then I highly recommend Endemic by @bsbicountries.bsky.social share.google/ptOhpUquZmxI... a truly lovely read.

‘White-knuckled wolf spider’ thought lost is rediscovered on Isle of Wight Conservationists hail ‘remarkable’ rediscovery after 40 years, at nature reserve only accessible by boat

Congrats to @graemelyons.bsky.social and Mark Telfer for an amazing discovery 👏👏🕷️ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Two adorable, but also very dopey looking, black cats, sat on a bed

Security is claiming they never saw a thing

A mouse in a transparent live capture trap. Just the head is visible, viewed from side on.

Tis the season for these little scamps to start turning up in my attic, and be given a free trip back to the local wood. As far as I can tell, they always seem to be Yellow-necked Mouse

An advert for a demon beetle trap, promising that it will catch Blatta orientalis

Wonder if this would still work, I've never seen Blatta orientalis!

A long-bodied damselfly which is mostly metallic green in colour with pale claspers at the tip of the abdomen and pale wing-spots.

Distinctly colder this morning, but this Willow Emerald was enjoying the sunshine in the gardens at The Lodge RSPB at lunchtime.

Excellent! Thank you. I'll put it on iRecord now.