Entomology Update - February 2026

February was a varied month, spring-like at times but mostly wet. I didn't get out much but made some interesting finds when I did. 

Culture Wars - Scientists versus Citizens

I try and stay well away from culture wars, but it recently came to my attention that there is some new terminology I should be aware of.  

TG Camera News

OM System has launched a new version of the TG-7 camera for microscope use.

Card Protector Sleeves

Transparent card protector sleeves (widely available online) are useful for harmlessly restraining insects for photography, including under the microscope.

Notable Finds

The observant may notice a theme to this month's Notable Finds. I haven't had chance to write about this yet but will do so next month. 

Cyrtogaster vulgaris, first record for VC55

Callitula bicolor, first record for VC55

Delphacodes venosus, second record for VC55

Epiclerus panyas, first records for VC55

Ooctonus vulgatus, first record for VC55

Microterys tricoloricornis, first record for VC55

 

News from Elsewhere

Jam today

You're not a real naturalist unless you have a strong affinity for jam jars. We all made our first specimen collections in jam jars - turns out they were a good choice! 

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Latest photos

Card Protector Sleeves

Transparent card protector sleeves (widely available online) are useful for harmlessly restraining insects for photography, including under the microscope. They're a little too shiny to be perfect so you need to arrange the lighting to avoid surface reflection. They are earier toi use in the field than the alternative - floating frames. 

 

TG Camera News

The PetaPixel website reports that OM System has launched a new version of the TG-7 Kit made for microscopes. The TG-7 Industry is a slightly modified TG-7 but the NY-TGV Super Adapter Kit is of most interest. I can't see any reason why this couldn't be used with any TG5, 6 or 7 camera. 

I don't think this is the best or most cost-effective solution for a microscope camera, but if you already have the TG5, 6 or 7 the adapter kit might be worth checking. 

The kit will be available in a few months time, UK pricing not available yet, but it is aimed at industrial users (who clearly have deep pockets). 

 

Culture Wars - Scientists versus Citizens

I try and stay well away from culture wars, but it recently came to my attention that there is some new terminology I should be aware of:

Citizen Science - typically top-down. Usually initiated and managed by professional scientists or by institutions. To collect large amounts of data labour is "crowdsourced" to the public.

Community Science - typically bottom-up. Usually initiated by a group of people who have a specific concern about their environment. The community are co-creators and owners of the research and frame the question(s), design the study(ies), and interpret the results.

Rule of thumb: If a project asks you to "help us help science," it’s likely citizen science. If it asks "how can science help us?" it’s likely community science.

 

Entomology Update - January 2026

After a freezing start, January was mostly ... wet, limiting entomology opportunities. 

Phone-based retirement

The weather hasn't helped but are we all spending too much time on our phones? 

An odd spot

The ladybirds appear to be plotting something, I'm not sure what they are up to. 

The Mysteries of the Metapleuron

It would be quite handy to have a metapleuron. 

Oligometry

The twisted tale of a wonky antenna. 

Two videos: 

Macrophotography Methods

and: 

Getting the most from your Olympus TG camera

 

Events 

• Leafhoppers & Allies: identification, ecology and recording - Alan Stewart
• VC55 County Recorder Conference

News from Elsewhere

Tiny forests ... are an (expensive) con

But don't take my word for it: Tiny forests, huge claims: The evidence gap behind the Miyawaki method for forest restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology, e70242. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70242

It's the pits

A new paper shows that the sensory pits on the cuticle of planthopper nymphs (Fulgoromorpha) sense electric fields.

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Latest photos

Oligometry

In Peritrechus, the structure of the antennae is an important diagnostic character. In Peritrechus geniculatus, ant3 is as thick or thicker than ant1, whereas in the other very similar species it is thinner. This recent specimen was missing the left ant4 but still identifiable as P. geniculatus. Then Jim Flanagan pointed out something odd to me. Maybe the left ant4 never got lost - it just didn't grow? The key is that the left ant2 is longer than the right - this is called oligometry and is frequent in Lygaeidae. Oligometry usually results in one of the antennae having three segments (it can also affect both antennae and then it is known as bilateral oligometry). It is thought to be caused during late development phase but precise reasons behind this deformation are not well known.

 

 

The Mysteries of the Metapleuron

I've always found Nysius to be a difficult genus to identify, apart from the obviously hairy N. huttoni. I turned up a few at the weekend but this time I used the key published by by Dolling, Het News, Issue 2, Autumn 2003. This turned out to be much easier than the other keys, and in the blink of an eye I had this one down to a species pair - N. graminicola vs. N. senecionis. The hind tarsi indicated which of these two it was, but to confirm I had to check the metapleuron, which confirmed that this was Nysius senecionis. 

Which raises the question - what the heck is a metapleuron? In Nysius the metapleuron is the lateral sclerite of the third thoracic segment and is the primary platform for the metathoracic scent gland (MTG) system. It consists of:

• The ostiole: an opening on the metapleuron through which the MTG reservoir empties its contents.
• The peritreme: a specialized cuticular structure (often shaped like an auricle or spout) that surrounds the ostiole. This directs the liquid secretion away from the body and onto the evaporatorium.
• The evaporatorium (or matt area): a distinct, non-glossy region of the metapleuron characterized by a highly micro-sculptured, "mushroom-like" or reticulated cuticle which increases the surface area significantly, allowing the defensive fluid to spread rapidly and evaporate (volatilize) almost instantly. This creates a "scent cloud" that deters predators before they can make physical contact.

The most important physiological role of the metapleuron is the dispersal of repellent defence chemicals. An additional role is in pheromone communication, acting as a broadcast structure for alarm, aggregation and sex pheromones. The specialized cuticle of the metapleuron evaporative area also prevents defensive secretions from being absorbed back into the insect's own underlying tissues.

I don't know about you, but it seems like a metapleuron might come in quite useful.

 

An odd spot

I made my first ladybird records of the year yesterday. Since December, through all the rain, frost and snow of January, through Storm Gorblimey, these two 7 Spot Ladybirds, Coccinella septempunctata, (which had a good year), had been huddled up on a Yew planted a few years ago precisely to give overwintering shelter for invertebrates. But rather than seeking shelter they were clamped to the tip of a branch in the most exposed spot possible. I was starting to wonder if they were alive, or semi-alive (parasitised), but when I took their photo (without touching or disturbing them as far as possible), they wandered off in a huff and settled down again a few inches away. 

In the afternoon, clearing out the garden nestboxes, I found a 2 Spot Ladybird safe and warm in a cozy woodcrete winter home. Sadly, I did have to evict this one in order to clean out the box, but yesterday was warmer so it will be fine. 

Phone-based retirement

The Atlantic

I don't write about sociology but I am interested in the collapse of social capital, especially as it relates to engagement with natural history. In the US there has been a lot of discussion recently about "phone-based retirement" - retired people are spending more time on (mobile) screens, with less engagement in traditional activities (such as stitting in chilly church halls listening to natural history talks). In his book Bowling Alone, sociologist Robert Putnam used the collapse of US 10 pin bowling leagues to illustrate the decline of social capital. While Putnam was describing a pre-Internet society, the same trends have continued and probably accelerated (Covid or no Covid). Putnam says he doesn't know the "answer" to this. Which is good, because neither do I. Currently it's hard to see how this trend could be reversed. For a mere £9 a year I can "participate" in all of Cambridge Natural History Society's talks online via Zoom. That, together with the super output of the Biological Recording Company, is in some ways an amazing prospect; and in others, thoroughly depressing.