Miles Binnie

Maybe just remains left after something else has eaten them?

Fly zombies on the fennel?

Some sort of entomopathogenic fungus?

#diptera

Lovely morning @kneppwilding.bsky.social watching the last of this year's purple emperors with Matthew Oates!

Parasitised aphid on the back door 👀

Pond dug, first raised bed of veg planted and small patch of lawn mowed for last time for a month - the rest is being left…

The pond is 3m by 3m and its clay. My arms ache..

Picked up a couple of books from the #Knepp store this afternoon. Can't wait to get into them!

The Large blue was declared nationally extinct in 1979. Thanks to the unique expertise of our conservation science team we have reintroduced this rare species to Gloucestershire and Somerset. We now need your help to support the butterfly's survival, increasing its populations in a changing climate.

This iconic butterfly is a globally endangered species. The caterpillar is a parasite of a Red ant, and the butterfly cannot survive without thriving ant colonies on each site. Over the course of the last ten years there have been several extreme weather events which have seen the populations of these and associated species decline. We can counter climate change impacts by adaptations to land management, and by identifying new Large blue introduction sites with greater climate change resilience

Our team will carry out in-depth surveys of Large blues, ants and associated species to help us identify population trends and give evidence-based advice to land managers. We will use temperature dataloggers to measure soil and air temperature on both existing and potential Large blue sites. This will produce vital evidence of the impacts of extreme weather and help to prioritise new sites for introductions into landscapes with greater flexibility to prosper under a changing climate.

Upskill volunteers to use the Coreo wildlife survey app, with data gathered feeding into our decade-long climate and species monitoring across Large blue sites. Monitor how volatile weather events and a warming climate affect populations using surveys and temperature data loggers to help make recommendations for reintroduction sites. Determine whether existing populations are robust enough for future re-introductions to new sites to increase the distribution and resilience of the species.

Our #BigGive campaign aims to:

🐜 Upskill volunteers to monitor Large blue sites

🐛 Monitor how #ClimateChange affects populations & new sites

🦋 Increase distribution & resilience via re-introductions

Make double the difference this week 22-29 April 🔽
buff.ly/BpXY1hY

The endangered #LargeBlue butterfly has a bizarre life cycle. Its caterpillar feeds on thyme plants and mimics the Myrmica sabuleti ant who then cares for it as their own for the next 10 months.

Double your donation from 22-29 April with #BigGive 🔽
buff.ly/BpXY1hY

@gloswildlife.bsky.social

There's still time to show your support for insect #ConservationScience with #BigGive. Your generous donations will support the next generations of the #LargeBlue in the UK & beyond 🦋

Double your impact before midday 29 April 🔽
buff.ly/lyGUtQ7

@gloswildlife.bsky.social @biggive.bsky.social

The bark bug, Aradus depressus (Aradidae). If you see one get a shot before it scuttles off into a bark crevice...

Nice to be back in Buckinghamshire. Thought I'd make the most of the weather today and wander over to the Royal Standard.

Lawn's turned out nice...

It's been a pleasure to have spent the week filming at #Knepp.

Many thanks to @mostlyscarce.bsky.social and Ryan Greaves from @kneppwilding.bsky.social for their support (and for the tour of the beaver enclosure). Can't wait to visit again soon!

Photo credit (left): Olly Cummins

Double book launch for my wonderful museum-hubby @jackdashby.bsky.social - Wild and Nature’s memory

Such a super friend with a huge passion for natural history & communicating about it

A surprise Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird) out of grasses with 16-spot and 22-spot Ladybirds, at lunchtime today! Not had one from grasses before! #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird #AlwaysExpectTheUnexpected

The first events from my new job at buglife are coming up soon!
If you are Cornwall-based and would like to learn how to ID pollinators and plants, then please sign up here to our free workshops (with free lunch!):

Pollinators: trybooking.com/uk/ESPH
Plants: trybooking.com/uk/ESPI

Hope to see you!

Nice to see some oil beetles (Meloe sp.) on the coastal path near Coverack today!

Had a great walk around Macclesfield Forest today. Brought out the EMP lure & despite being incredibly windy, had 3 Emperor #Moths to it within 5 mins. NFY, & truly amazing species I'd happily see every day. A new favourite of my girlfriend, as well.
#entomology #insects #mothsmatter #teammoth #vc58

First ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria) of the year! 😄

Migrating flies vital for people and nature Buzzing insects may be seen as pests – but globally, hundreds of fly species migrate over long distances, with major benefits for people and nature, new research shows. Bugs such as houseflies, fruitf...

news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...

A map of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly highlighting strategically important opportunities to create and restore habitat.

I’m delighted to see the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Nature Recovery Strategy published! This collaborative project has been two years in the making with thousands of individuals contributing to the vision. We have the blueprint, now we must focus on delivery. letstalk.cornwall.gov.uk/hub-page/nat...

Flies are masters of migration – it’s about time they got some credit Flies are the most ecologically diverse and important migrant group. We just had no idea.

So pleased to see this article about the incredible migration of flies on @theconversation.com!

Fly migration is so vitally important to humans but massively under-appreciated. I'd love to spread the word further - could anyone help?
theconversation.com/flies-are-ma...

Just found a Pseudeuophrys jumping spider living in the bathroom

Hawthorn shield bug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)

Out trying to record tawny owl calls tonight.

A Large Tortoiseshell butterfly (orange with black spots) basking amongst woody debris on a cleared patch of ground.

I'm genuinely speechless! I've just seen a Large Tortoiseshell at Penryn Campus!

Lovely to see a pair of green woodpeckers in the woods today! Looks like this tree has been used a few times.

Had a fantastic recce at Knepp yesterday ahead of our long lens assignment. Special thanks to Matt Phelps @mostlyscarce.bsky.social, Ryan Greaves and Paul Stevens for showing us around!

Photos by Irina Patrut, Ed Prendeville and Hannah Wise.

Rove beetle (Platydracus sp.)