What we're missing

Netelia cristata

Over the past few years I've tried (and pretty much failed) to convince colleagues that it is a scientific and ethical imperative to at least try to analyze the bycatch from insect trapping, including but not limited to light traps. Blinded by the light (sorry, moths), I can't seem to convince people to make the effort. One notable exception is my colleague Graham who regularly sends me samples from his amazingly productive garden moth trap. Working together we have clocked up an ever growing list of new species for VC55, including many solitary wasps.

Parasitoid wasps, usually overlooked, are crucial for understanding ecosystems and environmental change. Capitalising on other projects such as the bycatch from moth trapping can provide valuable insights into these overlooked taxa at relatively low additional cost or effort. A new article describes the use of an existing citizen science project, the National Moth Recording Scheme, to monitor nocturnal parasitoid wasps in the UK. The researchers collaborated with moth-trappers to collect "bycatch" from light traps, focusing on Ichneumonidae, a family of parasitoid wasps. Over five months in 2024, they collected 6,779 specimens, representing over 184 taxa. The project successfully collected a majority of previously recorded UK nocturnal Ichneumons within the five month period (e.g. 82% of Netelia, 91% of Ophion) and provided new species records for 67 of the 71 sampled species in 82 of 91 sampled vice-counties, including some rare species.
Cunningham-Eurich, I., Aucock, L., Walters-Hutton, B., Sumner, S. & Broad, G.R. (2026) Moth traps shine a light on nocturnal parasitoid wasps: Snapshot assessment of UK diversity and distributions. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 1–23. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.70135

Plenty of research shows the effectiveness of UV LED trapping for a wide range of insect taxa, so as soon as it stops raining I'm aiming to use my newly acquired LED strings to figure out what's flying about out there in the dark.  

See also: Dietenberger, M., Jechow, A., Sann, M., & Hölker, F. (2025) Shedding light on dark taxa: exploring a cryptic diversity of parasitoid wasps affected by artificial light at night. Scientific reports, 15(1), 6237. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-88111-3

LED Evolution

I've been very impressed with the LED light strip I bought recently, so much so that I decided to convert my hulking great mains-powered ALS actinic Robinson trap to LED. This was simple to do (30cm of white ABS waste pipe, another 2 metre LED strip and a few cable ties - total cost under £15. A one hour test run on a cool evening proved it works - 5 moths of 5 species but a couple of nice ones I don't see in the garden often - a Red Underwing (Catocala nupta) and a Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella). I'm a thorough convert to LED moth traps. 

A moth trap in my pocket

Recently I was inspired by a Bluesky post from Andy Symes about his portable LED moth trap. I've been meaning to try this for a long time and this finally gave me the kick to get on with it. Andy's trap is the "classic" version using an IKEA collapsible laundry basket with a hole cut in lid, a cut-off plastic funnel, vanes (scavenged off an old moth trap but could make DIY ones) and an LED light strip. I've got my hulking great mains-powered ALS actinic Robinson trap but I find I'm using it less because of the hassle of dragging it all out, running the cable and setting it up, so I wanted something as portable (and cheap) as possible.  

Following Andy's lead, I bought a cheap waterproof 2 metre blacklight (395nm-405nm) LED USB light strip and powered it using a small old Duracell powerbank I had around. I put the powerbank in a ziplock bag and dumped the whole thing on an old (once white) pillow case, then gave it a 10 minute test run in the garden. 

 

I was delighted with the results - in no time it pulled in a good range of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera and Trichoptera. But the best bit is that it's cost me 12 quid and I can roll the whole thing up and put it in my pocket. It's not a moth trap as such as you can't walk away and leave it, but I'm hoping the sheer ease of use will encourage me to use it more often.

Entomology Update - July 2026

In spite of the terrifying weather, July was an outstanding month for butterflies. With everything brown and crispy after record breaking heat and drought, most species are now struggling, but careful detective work has turned up a decent list of new species (below). 

DNA no-brainers

As I keep saying, DNA is the future, like it or not. Obviously not without problems but fortunately, there are some no-brainers.

The Softly Singing Spider

Cann, A. (2026) The Softly Singing Spider. British Arachnological Society Newsletter, 166, 9. 

Notable Finds

Centrodora amoena, first record for VC55
Gastrancistrus compressus, first record for VC55
Copidosoma cyaneum, first record for VC55
Gonatopus lunatus, first record for VC55
Hemiptarsenus ornatus, first record for VC55
Meraporus graminicola, first record for VC55
Aeolothrips albicinctus, first record for VC55
Euconomelus lepidus, first records for VC55

Omalus puncticollis, first record for VC55

Trichopria crassifemur, first record for VC55

News from Elsewhere

Nothing New Under the Sun

A nineteenth century reflection of the current AI panic.

Total number of insect species

Using DNA barcodes from parasitoid wasps, the estimated total number of insect species just jumped three-fold to 20 million. Considering how little we actually know, the true total is likely to be even higher (depending on what you regard as a species of course). 

Read previous updates

Latest photos

The Softly Singing Spider

 Cann, A. (2026) The Softly Singing Spider. British Arachnological Society Newsletter, 166, 9.

click for larger image

DNA no-brainers

As I keep saying, DNA is the future, like it or not. Obviously not without problems but fortunately, there are some no brainers, like these two: 


Spider Webs as Efficient Passive Samplers for Airborne Fungal eDNA
Researchers have used spider webs as passive environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers for detecting the pathogenic fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the causal agent of ash dieback.

Spider Webs as Efficient Passive Samplers for Airborne Fungal eDNA in Forests: A Case Study With Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. (2026) Environmental DNA, 8(3), e70315. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.70315Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DNA barcodes should be an esential component of all species descriptions for invertebrates

There are two good things about this paper. First is a nice clear definition of the term "dark taxa" - hyperdiverse species-rich groups of small, inconspicuous organisms that remain undescribed and difficult to delimit using morphology alone.
The second is a highly sensible proposal. I've played a little with the BOLD DNA database and it suffers from one big problem - some of the original species identifications are dodgy, hence the results get fuzzy. If all new species description had to include a DNA barcode, we could start to unpick the dark taxa, something we're never going to be able to do with morphology alone. 

Toward scalable species descriptions for dark taxa: the role of molecular data. ZooKeys 1283 (2026): 297. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1283.172693

Entomology Update - June 2026

I've given two talks this month on "The little things that rule the world - the Insect Apocalypse" ( I'm happy to give this talk to your group if you would like) but I've also spent time trying to rustle up an extra 500 species for the Rutland Water 5,000 in 50 challenge. Unfortunately, a planned visit for the Rutland Water Bioblitz was postponed due to extreme heat, which curtailed my activities. 

How to turn the lights on

Struggling with the problem of dark taxa.  

Hemiptera Dissection

Psallus season is here and with it lots of dissections to confirm IDs. I was asked to produce a short guide of the method I use, so here it is. 

A visit to Turkey

Visiting a local Oak proves worthwhile. 

Carnage in a flower pot

Murder in the flowerbed.

Notable Finds

Homoporus gibbiscuta, first record for VC55

Reptalus quinquecostatus, first record for VC55

News from Elsewhere

Hoverflies down by a third

Data from the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS) shows that Hoverflies declined by around a third in both their abundance and number of species recorded across GB between 2017-2024, signalling possible risks to the health of our ecosystems. 

Custom Caddis Casings

A fascinating paper - before there were microplastics, the artist Hubert Duprat showed that caddisfly larvae will make jewelled casings from pearls, diamonds and tiny rods of gold. 

Read previous updates

Latest photos

Carnage in a flower pot

I spotted some strange Hymenopteran goings on on the side of a flower pot on my patio. On investigating, I found this female Common Black Spider Wasp, Anoplius nigerrimus, trying to fly with a large female Common Fox Spider, Alopecosa pulverulenta, considerably heavier than herself up under the rim of the pot. 

The excellent BWARS account for this species makes clear that they aren't too fussy about nesting spots. I interrupted her for a quick portrait, then put her back by the pot with the babyfood (which was done for, having already been paralysed). 

A visit to Turkey

I was nudged recently to go and sample my local Turkey Oak, a mature specimen in a nearby park. Psallus spp aren't the easiest bugs to identify, but knowing the food plant can help. There are at least four  Psallus spp which feed on Turkey Oak, although one doesn't seem to have spread beyond London at present. We have three species in Leicestershire: Psallus anaemicus, Psallus helenae and Psallus pardalis.  I was successful in finding two of these, P. anaemicus and P. helenae. 

Even better, I was able to find some interesting wasps (all wasps are interesting, but some are more interesting than others)! Cecidostiba fungosa and Sycophila biguttata are both parasitoids of various Oak galls causers, so finding them in a Turkey Oak was good. Trissolcus cultratus, a Shieldbug parasitoid, is now starting to turn up in multiple samples. After months of slog, a picture of parasitoid frequency, although still sketchy due to lack of data.