Katty Baird

Wow. Apart from the pill box at Tillyfourie (max count one year also of 12) and a couple of caves on the Black Isle which have maxed at 12 and 19 in single years, that is a record from the North half of Scotland 🤩
You will have to check all the others now!

Hi George. That must have been good to watch! Up here your spider could be Eratigena duellica, which is the new name for gigantea.

These spiders can be hard to tell apart - 3 sps were
lumped into E. atrica. I'm not sure if they have been split out again. There were certainly disagreements.

Thanks Joanie. Not much to beat a fresh from pupa Herald! Had my first HH at the weekend :-) Nothing yet in Roslin Glen though.

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.

Nice pictures! And good to see you. I think you can see a caddis larva in the background of one of them

Thank you, Gustav. @ashwhiffin.bsky.social one of mine too.

Who knows what will be in 100 yrs time, but your name should definitely be there too!
Thank you 😊

YouTube video by NationalMuseumsScotland Collecting moths: biodiversity in East Lothian

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

Oak beauty and yellow horned moth side by side on a branch

Engrailed moth on trunk of birch tree.

Oak Beauty moth perched on my finger with woodland in the background.

Twin spotted quaker and clouded drab moths on the trunk of a birch tree.

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

Butterfly and moth conservation: results from a global synopsis of evidence - Journal of Insect Conservation Butterflies and moths face a range of anthropogenic threats with many of the best-studied populations in decline. In response, butterfly and moth conservation programmes are implementing a diverse set...

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...

Interesting! I have never seen similar despite a lot of Herald counting over the years. I now have my specimen in the freezer. If I ever find out, will let you know. 🙂

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

😁

Thanks 😊I have had one entomopathenogenic fungus sequenced by a 'friend in the right place'. It was Isaria farinosa. He has moved elsewhere now. I also have a freezer with several 'interesting' fungus infected moths in, awaiting a person with a suitable lab. I will add this to that collection.

Thank you. I also wondered if it looks different to 'normal' as it is hanging down from the host/substrate. It was impressive to see, even without being sure what it is.🙂

Thanks! It is a very damp site. I need to go back and poke it some more. I wondered if the fact it was hanging down, made it look more impressive than it might if growing on a cadavre on the ground.
Cool to see, whatever it is 😎

#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

Hadn't come across this book! Looks interesting... Thanks for posting.

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...

Figure 2. Characteristics and potential species pool of the 10 pre-defined tree-related microhabitat (TreM) types. Abbreviations have been used in the names of the types (e.g., Lacon-type cavity = Lacon querceus-type cavity) so that they can be considered species-specific microhabitats (with the exception of Protaetia and Ampedus spp.).

#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