Denise Wawman

Just collected another 7. Weird that there are so many tonight when it isn’t raining.

29 toads picked up from the lane heading towards the garden pond this evening. Unfortunately, we were too late to save one of them. Good to see a lot more large females this year.

2/3 picture 4 is Snowdrops and Lesser Celandine. This is the one I meant to add! #wildflowerhour

#wildflowerhour Somerset hedgerows Fumitory, Dandelion, Herb Robert and ?Bitter Cress 3/3

#wildflowerhour Somerset hedgerows Primrose, Nipplewort, Snowdrops, Sow Thistle 2/3

#wildflowerhour Lesser Celandine, Daisy, Dog’s Mercury & Periwinkle, Somerset hedgerows 1/3

Detection of Bartonella schoenbuchensis and a novel sigmavirus within the microbiome of deer keds (Lipoptena cervi) from the United Kingdom - Parasites & Vectors Background Lipoptena cervi is a member of the Hippoboscidae family of insects and is a hematophagous ectoparasite of cervid species, commonly referred to as the deer ked. Lipoptena cervi has a wide ge...

New paper out. We detected Bartonella and a new sigmavirus in UK Deer Keds. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Sounds like some of the Hippoboscidae especially those in the genus Pseudolynchia

We’re doomed and sadly we have condemned most of the planet with us.

I’m happy to look at any Hippoboscidae if you find any but no good at other other Diptera.

A toad swimming

First toads of the year rescued from the lane this evening. 3 heading to our pond and 5 to the neighbours’. Exmoor, Somerset, UK

Interactions between two protected species: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum impacting the recovery of Rhinolophus hipposideros populations in Britain - Mammal Research | Tom Kitching For those involved in horseshoe bat conservation, you may be interested to read the latest publication from Patrick Wright and myself, alongside former colleagues at Vincent Wildlife Trust. For seve...

www.linkedin.com/posts/tom-ki...

252 pages of back issue diptera excitement (Dipterist Digest Vol 30 pts 1 and 2) now available to download free from our website dipterists.org.uk/news/dipteri...
World class science in action! @britentsoc.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @sjthomasbotany.bsky.social

The finest-tipped pipette I can find, at least for an affordable price. But the outside diameter of the tip is 0.8mm which is too big to fit inside a moth’s aedeagus.

Does anyone on here have a good technique for everting a moth’s aedeagus? I have had success pushing/pulling it through but that doesn’t always work. I can’t source an affordable pipette that’s fine-tipped enough (one in photo has outside diameter of 0.8mm - needs to be nearer 0.25mm). #TeamMoth

Evidence-based assessment of container suitability for alcohol-preserved natural history specimens Specimens preserved in alcohol require ongoing monitoring to prevent deterioration, as the preservative is inherently unstable and susceptible to evaporation and concentration changes. The Natural His...

This paper addresses the fundamental challenge with wet collection specimen containers: their loss of stability over time.

Read about how the museum's collection was used to investigate this problem: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.181881

To show how widespread SGAR rat poison is in UK, we found 4 out of 5 Sparrowhawks are also dosed with it. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
You might well ask how a predator that eats birds gets dosed with rat poison? Answer: people chuck it everywhere and it's in insects, songbirds, everything.

A bit late for #WildFlowerHour but these two were the only wild flowers I found on this part of Exmoor yesterday- Valerian and daisy.

Biomedical and life science articles by female researchers spend longer under review Women are underrepresented in academia, especially in STEMM fields, at top institutions, and in senior positions. This study analyzes millions of biomedical and life science articles, revealing that f...

Cost of being female lead/corresponding author in biomedical sciences: "[T]he median amount of time spent under review is 7.4%–14.6% longer for female-authored articles than for male-authored articles" even in disciplines where women well-represented. #AcademicSky

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Come and work with us this spring!

A Siskin, a small yellow-green bird with black streaks, clasps the twig of a tree with its feet and the twig hangs down with the weight of the bird.

Siskins! 2024 was an ‘influx year’ & bird ringers caught & ringed 63,815 across the UK! This was the highest number ever recorded. 😮 Among birds caught in the UK were Siskins previously ringed as far away as Russia & the Czech Republic.

📖 www.bto.org/ringing-...

📷 Siskin by Graham Catley / BTO

Louse flies with unhatched puparia

My first louse (flat) flies of the year! Stenepteryx (Crataerina) hirundinis puparia (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) with flies emerging about 5 months early. I probably should have kept them somewhere cooler!

Moon shining brightly through clouds

Moon through clouds.

I hoping for a flat fly, but would be happy with a bat fly some of which are perhaps more seasonal with their deeply-boppers on their bums!

Book cover for Reproducible Code guide. The cover has a red background with a large yellow-bodied black-headed stag beetle.

Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!

Discover 48 UK soldierflies: boldly patterned spring–summer flower visitors, with larvae recycling nutrients in wetlands, woodland & gardens. Join @kitenet.bsky.social on 16 Apr 2026 for a talk on their ID, ecology & standout species www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1976906539...

@uk-soldierflies.bsky.social

This #postdoc position is now officially advertised: www.dannyhaelewaters.com/opening-for-.... #hiring #newPI #CzechScienceFoundation #LFEE

Evidence of much wider distribution of the potential West Nile virus vector, #Culex modestus, in the UK Culex modestus is a primary vector of West Nile virus (WNV) in Europe, feeding on both avian and mammalian hosts. Since its rediscovery in the UK in Kent in 2010, its range has been reported throughout the coasta...

Evidence of much wider distribution of the potential West Nile virus vector, #Culex modestus, in the UK Parasites&Vectors

Nominations are now open for the BSP CA Wright Medal (mid-career), President's Medal (early career) and for Honorary memberships! See our website: bsp.uk.net/Honours-and-...

If you work on genomics of Lepidoptera in Europe and would like to do a short-term research exchange, you can apply for a short term scientific mission through our COST Action. See details below.

The first talk of the dipteristsforum.bsky.social #DipteristDay2025 was by @denisewawman.bsky.social talking about the ever-so-cute Hippoboscidae.

She provides an amusing musing about what happens when you start to ponder what’s happening in your garden…

Pox on the dunnocks!