David W. Williams

Female Common Earwigs Forficula auricularia are very good mothers. After spending the winter guarding her batch of eggs she cares for the nymphs for several weeks and regurgitates food for them. The nymphs will disperse when they are large enough to fend for themselves. Dartmoor, Devon

Always interesting to see a slime-mould. I'm told that this is Trichia maylanii. The two views show the sporangia (orange ball-on-stick structures) before & after they have ripened & shed their spores. Llanymynech Rocks, last Weds.

Sunrise this morning was very pink too!

A flint towered church in the misty gloom. Two bicycles are propped up against the wall.

Inside the church looking at the stone font which has four stone lions around the base and various figures around the bowl including an angel (?) and a lion.

A transparent rule marked off in centimetres and further divided into 10ths of a millimetre. Two tiny circular objects are sitting on top, measuring about 1 mm. They are the corpses of two pseudoscorpions which were found inside the church on a dusty ledge.

Close up of the dead pseudoscorpion that has strands of cobweb on it and bits of detritus. The claws are easily discernible.

Only a short cycle ride in the misty gloom today. Stopped at St Mary's, Shotesham. Scanning horizontal surfaces inside, I spotted two tiny dots - Cheiridium museorum, sadly dead. These so-called Book Scorpions are hard to find, several of my records are dead specimens found in churches in cobwebs.

L to R: 10-spot, Conifer (Scymnus suturalis) and Pine Ladybirds, tapped from Scots Pine at Llanymynech Rocks last Weds.

Three Nephus redtenbacheri (Red-patched Ladybird) and Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird) from today’s misty mooch in SW Shropshire with @vc40orthops.bsky.social. It’s the most SW record for Red-flanked in Shropshire so far! #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

3 ladybirds on a white plastic tray. Large red individual top right, small brown and black individual bottom right and medium sized brown individual left.

Nice to get a comparison shot of these 3 (somewhat) cooperative inconspicuous ladybirds at the Raven Nature Reserve, Wexford this evening. Coccidula rufa (top right), Nephus redtenbacheri (bottom right) and Rhyzobius litura (left).

A Lapland Bunting flapping its wings as it balances on some beach debris. It’s a streaky brown bird with a rich chestnut nape.

A Shore Lark in flight. It’s a brown bird with a black mark sweeping down each side of its yellow face.

A Snow Bunting flying above coastal dunes, showing bright white belly and wing patches.

A Snow Bunting glowing white amongst seaweed.

A fantastic day on the Lincolnshire coast at Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe. Managed to catch up with the Lapland Bunting, two Shore Lark and two very white Snow Buntings. A Little Ringed Plover was a surprise bonus.

A tiny pale grey baby harvestman wandering over some dark soil on a stone. To the top and bottom of the photo are numerous little round harvestman eggs, pale grey in colour.

Close-up of the baby harvestman which has short, pale translucent legs and a slightly darker body with faint grey markings. In the bottom left corner is a cluster of small, round pale eggs.

Close-up of the harvestman eggs which are pale and round. Within several of them you can clearly see the pair of dark eyes of the tiny baby harvestman inside waiting to hatch out. In several you can also just make out the legs wrapped around the body.

Cuteness overload: adorable baby harvestman, newly hatched, alongside a cluster of eggs - the eyes of the babies are clearly visible inside the unhatched eggs and you can just make out the legs. They were found under a stone in my local cemetery. #arachnids #harvestmen

A chilly and dull mooch this pm in north Shropshire, finding Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly Ladybird), R. chrysomeloides (Arboreal Ladybird), Hippodamia variegata (Adonis Ladybird), and Scymnus haemorrhoidalis (Red-rumped Ladybird) amongst others #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Callitula bicolor (f) Tergites one and two long, longer together than half the total length of the gaster, tergite two much longer than tergite three. Llanymynech Rocks NR 4 March 2026

Ah, OK, thanks! This one did key out as bicolor & I can see that the basal area forms a large, reddish patch though it isn't clear in my field shots. Nigel's detective work here: www.flickr.com/photos/insec...

Norellia spinipes on a Daffodil

Norellia spinipes on Daffodils at Goblin Combe nr Bristol y'day. New for me. c10 incl several pairs in cop.
@dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Cassida nebulosa

Cassida rubiginosa (left) & C. nebulosa (right).

A top find (not by me) on Wednesday's trip to Llanymynech Rocks was the tortoise beetle Cassida nebulosa, only the second VC40 record. Lovely thing. It appeared at the same time as the much commoner C. rubiginosa (the green one), allowing a nice side by side comparison.

Thanks! Is there an easy (ie in the field) way of separating from C. ferrierei? The key characters seem to be a microscope job...

Pine Ladybirds & Green Shieldbug in its brown winter coat. Green Shieldbugs are strictly vegetarian (a few species are predatory) so the ladybird is safe! They are all just trying to crowd into the very sunniest bit!

Oh squeak! It’s official publication day!

Callitula pyrrhogaster

Callitula cf bicolor

Callitula cf bicolor

Wildlife Group's trip to Llanymynech Rocks on the England/Wales border yesterday in glorious sunshine produced the tiny (c. 2mm), wingless wasp Callitula pyrrhogaster as usual. But we also founds its fully-winged relative C. cf bicolor for a change.

Bristly Ladybird, Rhyzobius lophanthae

The Bristly Ladybirds, Rhyzobius lophanthae, have survived the wet winter and are still kicking around in the conifers in good numbers.

#Beetles #Coleoptera #VC55 #OlympusTG6

A black ladybird with red spots on a white and brown Silver Birch trunk

I was out for a heathland walk with a school group earlier and after we’d spotted lots of 7-spot Ladybirds, one of the children saw this fab little Heather Ladybird 🐞 Top nature detectives!

#UKLadybirds #Ladybird
#DailyNature

Plenty of Norellia spinipes in the Daffodils at #TamesideNatureReserve, Tamworth, #Staffs 04/03/26 #Scathophagidae #Diptera @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Male Anthophora plumipes bee feeding on Red Dead-nettle in St Paul's churchyard, Fazeley, #Staffs 04/03/26 #solitarybee

1st Bombylius major of the year, 4 days earlier than last year, 04/03/26, Tamworth, #Staffs, and its a Male! @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social #beeflywatch @kitenet.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social #beefly

Illustrations of grasshopper, cricket and earwig on the front cover of a book called Field Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allies of Great Britain and Ireland

🦗 This #WorldWildlifeDay, discover Britain's grasshoppers, crickets & allied species in a brilliant new field guide!

It's co-written by our former colleague Björn Beckmann with recording scheme coordinator Peter Sutton.

Allied species are earwigs, stick insects, mantids and cockroaches 🪳

🧪 1/

A large black beetle clinging to an Arum leaf. There are hints of purple around the legs and antennae, and the surface of its exoskeleton bears a series of deep punctures.

A large black beetle resting on the back of a hand.

Amazed to stumble across this Oil-beetle yesterday, something I rarely encounter. I'm leaning towards Black Oil-beetle as opposed to Violet as the rear margin of the (squarish) thorax appears relatively straight, but I'd welcome other's opinions.. #coleoptera

Red Marsh Ladybird: small narrow rufous coloured beetle with long antennae on a pale plastic background.

#LadybirdYearList Species #12: a Red Marsh Ladybird (Coccidula rufa) swept from tall pond side vegetation at Cornmill Meadows in the Lee Valley today. Surprisingly I did not see this common species last year, so pleased to catch up with it early this year. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

On Friday, I found this 24-spot Ladybird (Subcoccinella 24-punctata), with what looks like a Tachinid egg on it. I know Medina separata attacks the Coccinellidae, but they usually lay eggs under the elytra. This ladybird also has a white substance on the face (+ a baby springtail on the pronotum...)

Completely flunked the focus (as usual!), but was surprised to find paired Meadow Ladybirds (Rhyzobius litura) yesterday. I've found paired 7-spot and Pine Ladybirds early in the year, but this is a first for me!
#VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Saw this lovely moth on railings in Shropshire yesterday, which I think might be a female Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria). #Lepidoptera #Moth

The sun had gone by the time I got to the park railings today but their dark colour holds the heat, which was being enjoyed by two new-for-2026 shieldbugs: Hawthorn (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale) & Hairy (Dolycoris baccarum), as well as one of the relatively large springtails Orchesella cincta.

The dipping pond at Cosmeston this morning was full of Toads, slithering and sliding, mating and producing their thousands of long strings of eggs. No sign of any frogs yet though. #SpringHasSprung