To kill or not to kill?

A recent paper examines the ethics of insect "collecting", although in reality it is focussed on lethal methods. For all the ethical problems, close hands-on interactions with insects "can foster the development of environmentally conscious young people who contribute to the long-term preservation of local habitats ... By encouraging students to explore outdoor environments, insect collecting can nurture a connection with nature, inspiring a lifelong interest in natural sciences and environmental stewardship". 

Abstract: Insects have long been integral to youth science education both in K-12 classrooms and in informal learning contexts due to their diversity, accessibility, and ecological importance. Collecting and studying insects helps students develop key scientific skills such as observation, classification, and inquiry. However, with the rise of conservation movements and ethical considerations regarding animal rights, the practice of insect collecting has come under scrutiny. This paper explores the practice of insect collecting with students in the K-12 age range, highlighting both its educational benefits and the ethical challenges it poses. We examine arguments both for and against insect collecting and propose a framework from which teachers, students, and informal educators can construct their own code of ethics. The goal is to foster ethical, inquiry-based learning while ensuring respect for nature and promoting a nuanced understanding of environmental stewardship.

White, P., Stroupe, D., Brown, C., Conley, E., & McMahon, S. (2025) Insect collecting with K-12 aged students: Balancing educational value and ethical considerations. The Journal of Environmental Education, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2025.2567386

 

The spiders of Great Britain and Ireland: 2025 checklist

Maintaining a national checklist for a taxon as large as spiders is a monumental task and Alastair Lavery has again updated the UK list, last published in 2019. This update recognises 680 established UK species, an increase of 15 in the last five years. Particularly notable is the number of species in anthropic habitats (buildings) - many of these are surely on the edge, waiting until the climate favours their spread outdoors. Also of interest is the discussion around the yet undescribed spider Megalepthyphantes cf. collinus and Mastigusa where for the first time in a Checklist, I am honoured to be referenced (even if my name is only spelt right once :-)

Lavery, A.H. (2025) The spiders of Great Britain and Ireland: 2025 checklist. Arachnology, 20(3), 410-427.  https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2024.20.3.8

The Invisible Bug?

 An appreciation of Cardiastethus fasciiventris.

 

Outstanding customer service from Brunel Microscopes

I did something stupid. I've never damaged a microscope objective in my life, but somehow I managed to scratch the 40X objective on my new compound microscope, leaving an ugly mark dead center in the field of view. After some self-castigation, I emailed Brunel Microscopes, explained the situation and asked to order a replacement. To my surprise, they offered to replace the damaged lens free of charge, something they were clearly not obligated to do. All throughout my dealings with them I have been delighted with the customer service I have received from Brunel Microscopes and I recommend them highly.

 

The subtle effects of the climate crisis

diapause: noun, a period of suspended development during unfavourable environmental conditions.

The usual vision of the climate crisis is apocalyptic - floods, flames and desertification. While that's true, most of the reality is a lot more subtle, but should be none the less worrying for that. A new paper looks at the cost of diapause in mirid bugs. In the paper, the cause of diapause is day length, but diapause is diapause and the costs are the same for climate-induced diapause, e.g. due to temperature or drought. Under diapause conditions, oviposition was delayed and 30% fewer eggs were produced, reflecting the cost of producing diapause eggs. This shows that producing diapause eggs to ensure long-term survival incurs costs. It's subtle but as the frequency of adverse events increases, it's bad news. 

The cost of diapause egg production in two mirid bugs, Trigonotylus caelestialium and Adelphocoris triannulatus (Hemiptera: Miridae). (2025) Journal of Insect Physiology, 104915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2025.104915

 

 

Google Scholar Labs - literature search in a box?

The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed. You can either learn to live with AI or stick your head in the sand.

Google has rolled its Gemini AI into Google Scholar  - "Scholar Labs" - a literature search in a box. Scholar Labs is currently an experimental feature, but as Google wants to get us all hooked on Gemini so it can monetise it, it's not going away. The good thing is that all the references are linked so you can read them yourself and check the veracity, and we're talking about peer reviewed literature here (unless AI has already contaminated scientific publishing). The bad thing? Well obviously you don't know what papers/sources it's missing out - the unknown unknowns. I tried it out on a few of my favourites (try these for yourself, or substitute your own interests):

• Describe what is known about Laboulbeniales in Coccinellida. 
• Explain the ecology of Anthocoridae in the UK. 
• Describe recent developments in the taxonomy of Collembola in Europe and the UK resulting from DNA studies. 
• Explain the known roles of cephalic modification in Linyphiidae.

I was quite impressed by the results, although as always, an AI output is a starting point/prompt rather than a conclusive endpoint. It certainly helped me eliminate a few of my own unknown unknowns and gave me a framework for further thinking. As always with LLMs, it's all about prompt engineering so I seeded ChatGPT with an idea and asked it to write prompts for me, for example:

• Seed: Explain likely causes of invasion waves of Opiliones. 

GPT-5 mini suggested: 

Here’s a concise, effective prompt you can use (for an AI or researcher) to explain the causes of invasion waves by Opiliones (harvestmen):

"Explain the causes and mechanisms behind invasion waves of Opiliones (harvestmen). Cover ecological, behavioral, physiological, and anthropogenic factors that enable range expansions and rapid colonization, and describe how life-history traits (e.g., dispersal ability, reproductive rate, diapause), habitat preferences, climate change, land-use change, human-mediated transport, and interspecific interactions (competition, predation, mutualisms, enemy release) contribute. Discuss temporal and spatial patterns of invasions, typical stages of an invasion wave (arrival, establishment, expansion), and empirical methods used to detect and study invasion waves (genetic analyses, long-term monitoring, species distribution models). Finally, provide examples from the literature of notable Opiliones range expansions and suggest testable hypotheses and study designs to disentangle driving factors."

If you want a shorter version for a general audience or classroom task, use this:

"Describe why and how harvestmen (Opiliones) produce invasion waves. Explain key biological traits, environmental changes (e.g., climate and land use), and human activities that promote arrival, establishment, and rapid range expansion. Include examples, detection methods, and testable hypotheses."

Of course, any field of knowledge is subject to the inherent biases in that field:

• What is the likely impact of artificial intelligence on climate? (try this one for yourself and see if you think it gives unbiased results)

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_labs/search?hl=en

 

Entomology Update - November 2025

A lot of meetings, discussions and email this month but not a lot of visible activity I can discuss. Rain, frost and the start of meteorological winter feels like winter, which is good - without winter there is no spring.

The Loneliest Moth in Leicester

Did Lonely Walter find love? 

What, *Another Microscope?

A second attempt at upgrading my compound microscope. 

Crystallography

What's the point of buying a new microscope if you can't have some fun? Given the recent poor weather and the fact that I've just bought a microscope with a polarising filter, I recrystallized some household stuff and these are the first results. 

Notable Finds:

Aphanus rolandri,  4th record for VC55.

 

News from Elsewhere:

Good Vibrations?

Still puzzling over the role of the stabilimentum ... 

Decline of the Wall Brown butterfly

A new paper shows that warming conditions in late summer and autumn result in shorter larval development and smaller adult size, rather than the probability of a third generation successfully developing as previously suggested. 

 

 

Read previous updates

Latest photos

What, *Another* Microscope?

Not that long ago I upgraded my trusty old Apex Practitioner compound microscope. This old friend had served me well and I was sad to see it go, but I felt I was ready for something better. After considerable research and some disappointing customer service from a company I have used in the past, I finally settled on an AmScope T720 microscope. Things didn't work out that well. For one thing, after a couple of attempts at different configurations, darkfield microscopy proved to be impossible with this instrument, which was a disappointment. As I used it more, the limitations became more apparent. Let me be clear, the T720 isn't a bad microscope, it just wasn't the upgrade I was looking for. AmScope (and similar) microscopes definitely have a place in the market. If you need a cheap microscope, I'd definitely consider one, especially a used one - of which there are plenty around. Consider it a disposable item and don't expect much in the way of customer service. Don't overpay for one.

After some more poor customer service from my previous supplier, I finally settled on a Brunel SP300 compound microscope, which is the top model in their line. I went for the brightfield option with infinity corrected plan x4, x10, x20, x40 and x100 (oil immersion) objectives but one of the nice things about this instrument is the flexibility. A sub-condenser slider makes darkfield and phase contrast possible, although I've decided to skip phase contrast again for now. It's not "proper" darkfield, just like this instrument doesn't have "proper" Kohler illumination, but if it gets the job done it's good enough. A couple of simple and economic attachments also make polarized light microscopy available, which for my purposes is a "nice to have" (and nice to play with on a rainy day!). I was able to reuse the camera adapter bought for the AmScope so incurred no extra cost. It was suggested to me that the SP300 was "equivalent to a Leica". Never having owned a Leica I can't verify that. I'm still assessing the optical performance but first my first impressions are favourable. Importantly, in contrast to my recent interactions with microscope companies, I cannot praise Brunel's customer service highly enough - a very important factor. 

In summary, if you're looking to step up from an entry level microscope but can't/don't want to spend silly megabucks, I strongly recommend the Brunel SP300 microscope. 

Cardiastethus fasciiventris male paramere. 

Tilia stem section, polarized light, focus stack of 480 images (prepared slide).

Crystallography

What's the point of buying a new microscope if you can't have some fun? Given the recent poor weather and the fact that I've just bought a microscope with a polarising filter, I recrystallized some household stuff and this are the first results. I didn't buy a polarising microscope to look at inorganic substances, but to utilize birefringent properties of tissues to enhance visualization - but more of that later.

Sea salt

Sodium bicarbonate

Sucrose (sugar)

Following a suggestion online, I also added a retarder (wave plate) to the polarizer (the lid of a polypropylene specimen box - CD jewel cases are good). Recrystalized sea salt (mostly NaCl), polarised image (left), plus retarder (right).