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).

 

The Loneliest Moth in Leicester

The last couple of weeks have certainly felt like winter, which is not a bad thing - seasonality is to be welcomed. One frosty evening I was washing up after dinner when I spotted a moth on the kitchen window. Although I had never seen this species before I knew instantly what it was, which made the ensuing scramble to get a pot and catch it before it flew off even more frantic. Lonely Walter, as I called him, was a Winter Moth, Operophtera brumata. And he's definitely he/him as the females are flightless and hang around being smelly (in an alluring pheromone sort of way) and waiting for the males to find them. 

He's not the smartest looking Winter Moth you ever did see, but he is the first Winter Moth I've ever seen in our suburban garden. While Operophtera brumata is by no means a rare species, it's rare around here - there hasn't been a record within five miles in the last five years. It's also one of the moths that makes old mothers go dewy-eyed and start reminiscing about the moth snowstorm in car headlights in country lanes on winter nights. It's been a bad year for nature, with climate extremes, the Government's war on wildlife and more neighbouring gardens being stripped of vegetation, paved over and a couple of non-native plants stuck in. It would be nice to think that Lonely Walter represents a beacon of hope, and in a sense he does - Nature will find a way, etc, etc. In reality, I fear that Walter is a remnant of what we have lost. As I let him go after having his mugshot taken I wished him well, willing him to use his battered wings to find all the smelly females he dreams of. I hope he did.

Good Vibrations?

While I'm yet to catch up with the Wasp Spider, Argiope bruennichi, I have long puzzled over the stabilimentum, a structure produced these spiders to decorate their orb webs. A new study shows that stabilimenta induce negligible delays in prey perception for transverse vibrations and only minor delays for normal and tangential vibrations, primarily due to the added inertial mass. However, for tangential vibrations, the presence of stabilimenta may enhance the spider’s ability to localize prey due to increased connectivity at the center of the orb web. It's an interesting finding but it doesn't eliminate the possibility of other functions, such as making these large webs more visible and so less subject to damage by animals blundering through them. 

Greco G, Dal Poggetto VF, Lenzini L, Castellucci F, Pugno NM (2025) The effect of different structural decoration geometries on vibration propagation in spider orb webs. PLoS One 20(10): e0332593. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332593

 

Entomology Update - October 2025

Although the weather has returned to "normal" the effects of the spring-summer drought linger with insect numbers down on what should be there. 

Shrinking Springtails

Recently I came across a springtail that gave me pause for thought.

Competition Time!

Guess the mystery objects! 

Spiders of the Rutland Water Lagoons: An Exploratory Survey

"This report tells the story of an ambitious survey of invertebrates at Rutland Water nature reserve in England. We used pitfall traps across several lagoons, hoping to focus on spiders but deciding to record everything we caught. Around sixty traps went out. Some were lost to flooding, others raided by crows. Even so, more than a thousand spiders were recovered, along with a by-catch of beetles and other groups. The work was far bigger than we expected. It took time, energy, and patience to bring the results together. Four years later - and with help from many generous volunteers - we are at last ready to share the findings. This report covers only the spider records."

Fungal Defence

A new research paper shows that a Japanese shieldbug uses fungi to ward off parasitoid wasp attacks. 

Notable Finds

Drymus pumilio, second record for VC55.

Agallia brachyptera

Anakelisia fasciata, second record for VC55.

Eupteryx thoulessi, second record for VC55.

Kolbia quisquiliarum, first record for VC55.

Read previous updates

Latest photos

Fungal Defence

I'm not very good at rearing larval insects, and on the few occasions that I have I've wound up with parasitoid wasps rather than what I was hoping for. Parasitoid wasps are hugely important in shaping insect populations, to the extent that I have often wondered how any insects survive. A new research paper shows that a Japanese shieldbug, Megymenum gracilicorne, uses fungi to ward off attacks. The females have organs on their hind legs which harbour fungi that the females use to coat newly laid eggs. The fungal hyphae grow to envelop the eggs and this physically excludes parasitoid wasps until the eggs hatch. While we don't have any Dinidorid shieldbugs in the UK, it might still be worth checking the hind legs of female shieldbugs carefully for any signs of similar structure. 

Nishino, T., Moriyama, M., Mukai, H., Tanahashi, M., Hosokawa, T., Chang, H. Y., & Fukatsu, T. (2025) Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs. Science, 390(6770), 279-283. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10996522/pdf/nihpp-2024.03.25.586038v1.pdf

 

Spiders of the Rutland Water Lagoons

Palmer, P., Cann, A., Sexton, T., Fox, B., & Pitt-Miller, S. (2025) Spiders of the Rutland Water Lagoons: An Exploratory Survey. ISBN 979-8269245362 Available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FVMMK466

"This report tells the story of an ambitious survey of invertebrates at Rutland Water nature reserve in England. We used pitfall traps across several lagoons, hoping to focus on spiders but deciding to record everything we caught. Around sixty traps went out. Some were lost to flooding, others raided by crows. Even so, more than a thousand spiders were recovered, along with a by-catch of beetles and other groups. The work was far bigger than we expected. It took time, energy, and patience to bring the results together. Four years later - and with help from many generous volunteers - we are at last ready to share the findings. This report covers only the spider records."

 

Competition Time!

click for larger view (answer at bottom of page)

Guess the mystery objects! 

Actually, there is a point to this. One of the best aspects of OM cameras is the built-in focus bracketing. However, I'm finding that as I push the magnification more and more (here the OM 90mm macro lens plus Raynox DCR250 stacked with a Raynox DCR 150, giving a total of ~5x magnification on the sensor), the quality of my images is at best hit and miss - I'm simply asking the OM software to do too much with hand held stacks. So I sold my old full size tripod which I never use and more and bought a cheap(ish) tabletop tripod. 

Problem solved. 

Scroll down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer: Chia seeds, ~1.5mm length.

 

Entomology Update - September 2025

A shorter journal this month. There has been a lot going on but not too much entomology to write about yet.

Buy one, get one free

A German hitchhiker. 

Diffusion Diffusion Diffusion

The importance of diffusion in macro photography and microscopy.

Microscope upgrade

I bought a new microscope. 

Notable Finds

Flastena fumipennis - second VC55 record

Eupteryx filicum

Adarrus multinotatus

Read previous updates

Latest photos

Microscope upgrade

I bought my present compound microscope (an Apex Practitioner) for £100 nearly 10 years ago. It's been amazingly good for the price, but hoping to do better, I wanted to upgrade. Given the quality of the results I can produce, this is a problem as I'm into the uncomfortable valley between what I can currently do and a five figure sum for a top brand instrument - undoubtedly better but also undoubtedly overpriced - a £10,000 microscope cannot, according to the laws of physics, be 100 times better than a £100 instrument. Eventually, after much dithering, I zeroed in on candidates, and asked for a quote from a UK company I have bought several microscopes from in the past. I was shocked when they came back with a quote for £2,700 (including £150 for delivery!), so I shopped around. The microscope I was interested in comes out of a big Chinese factory and crops up under various names all over the place. By shopping around I managed to find very similar kit (may not be absolutely identical) for £1,200. 

To buy or not to buy? I've bought a lot of Chinese optics over the last 10 years. They cannot be beaten on price, but there is a problem. The Chinese megafactories churn out the optics but the quality control is not as good as the expensive named manufacturers. There are good copies (absolute bargains), and not so good copies. The only way to find out is to buy one and try it. And then send it back if you're not happy - a hassle, but a major saving. So what did I get? 

• AmScope T720Q-EUL trinocular compound microscope. This has Kohler illumination (too complicated to go into here, Google it if you want to know more), widefield 10x eyepieces and a quintuple nosepiece with 4x, 10x, 20x, 40x infinity plan objectives, and a 100x oil objective which I don't plan to use and may replace with something else. 
• I also bought a dry darkfield condenser (since I don't plan to use the 100x objective) to allow me to use darkfield illumination. 
• Camera adaptor: 23mm trinocular port to T2 adapter with a 2x reduction lens, plus a T2 to Sony E mount adapter. This allows me to mount my Sony a6500 body on the trinocular port. Fitting cameras to microscopes is a dark art and something I've had problems with in the past. Choosing a 2x reduction lens was an educated guess based on reading what was needed for an APS-C sensor. This made me nervous - but I got it right! Although the camera is not parfocal with the eyepieces this isn't a problem in practice. The field of view on the camera sensor is also slightly wider than that through the eyepieces. Microscope firms are now obsessed with USB cameras, but even the best ones costing over £1,000 pounds aren't a match for a camera such as the Sony a6500 - the resolution isn't the problem, exceeding that of the microscope optics, but image quality and dynamic range is. 

Cons: 

• There's a lot of plastic, parts that would be better as metal. In general the construction feels a bit flimsy, although the stage controls, focus, etc. are fine. In practice, it works, and it is lighter than a fully metal instrument. 
• Lots of microscope snobs will tell you "This is not true Kohler illumination". I don't know about that, I can only judge by the results I am able to achieve. 
• I don't plan to use the 100x oil objective but it comes with the microscope. I may replace it with something else.

Pros:

• It (nearly*) all fits together and it works! Phew!
• It's more convenient to use a trinocular microscope than clamping the camera onto the monocular eyepiece as I've been doing for the past 10 years!
• Image Quality: As expected it's not 10 times better than my old microscope but it is definitely better. Overall, together with the improved ergonomics, I feel I made the right purchase. As with cameras (and ovens!), the instrument itself is only half the story - the person using it is as important. 

*And now the bad-ish news

The darkfield condenser I bought does not fit the microscope. My fault, but AmScope don't make a darkfield condenser which fits this microscope. I have been able to find one elsewhere, but given the cost (a third of the price of the microscope) and how useful it is likely to be to me, I am currently exploring other solutions (more of that later). 

In summary

• Lots more experimentation to come, photos to date on BlueSky. 
• Credit to AmScope. For 99% of users, the microscope snobs are wrong about AmScope.

Diffusion Diffusion Diffusion

click for full size image

I've written so much about theimportance of diffusion in macro photography and microscopy that I almost feel guilty about mentioning it again. Almost, but not quite. So here's a practical demonstration of how much detail is lost without adequate diffusion. 

Kalanchoe leaf, 100X.

 

Buy one, get one free

This week I have taken delivery of several parcels, including one from Germany. This one had a hitchhiker, a Long-tailed Silverfish, Ctenolepisma longicaudata. They look distinctively different from our familiar Silverfish, Lepisma saccharinum. I was able to key this out and demonstrate the key feature, that the large erect setae on the side of the body are saw-toothed. 

Keyed using:
https://www.fhi.no/globalassets/dokumenterfiler/rapporter/2019/long-tailed-silverfish-ctenolepisma-longicaudata---biology-and-control.pdf

 

Entomology Update - August 2025

August was a varied month, a little rain (not enough), heatwaves, but some notable finds. 

Kybos Confusion!

For the first time ever I've managed to identify a Kybos leafhopper to species level. That's where the problems started. 

This is either genius ... or incredibly stupid

Have I stumbled across a useful finding?

One of those days...

The ups and downs of entomological aspiration...

Crazy Paving

Insect populations are declining. They are declining fastest in urban areas (including Leicester which is included in this study). 

August notable finds:

• Chaetostomella cylindrica
• Macrosteles sardus, first records for VC55
• Phasia barbifrons, a parasitoid of shieldbugs
• Short-winged Cone-head, Conocephalus dorsalis
• Dicyphus tamaninii, first records for VC55
• Macrosteles viridigriseus, probably common but rarely recorded.

Read previous updates

Latest photos

Crazy Paving

Insect populations are declining. They are declining fastest in urban areas (including Leicester which is included in this study). The causes are:

• Paving over soil
• Reduced tree cover
• Gardening - excessive tidiness, non-native plants, chemical use.

All of these are easily solvable (compared, say, to climate change). I see no willingness to take the actions needed to solve the problem. 


Ellis, E. E., Campbell, S. A., & Edmondson, J. L. (2025) Drivers of nocturnal and diurnal pollinating insect declines in urban landscapes. Proceedings B, 292(2052), 20250102. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2025.0102

"Insect pollinators are essential for terrestrial ecosystems, delivering key ecosystem functions in the face of anthropogenic disturbance. Urbanization may be a key threat to pollinator communities. However, the scale of the threat remains unknown due to an overwhelming research emphasis on bees and a lack of comparative studies on hyper-diverse pollinating taxa such as nocturnal moths. As a result, it remains unclear which pollinator groups are most vulnerable to urbanization, and which habitat features are most critical for supporting them. We conducted a large-scale assessment of the effects of increasing urbanization on the diversity of bees, hoverflies and nocturnal moths in urban horticultural sites (allotments) across three cities. We report up to a 43% reduction in species richness along urbanization gradients, suggesting that a wide range of pollinators are under threat in urban landscapes. We show that these declines are driven by taxon-specific landscape drivers such as the reduction of tree canopy and semi-natural habitat, suggesting that urban insect conservation depends on the preservation or expansion of habitat features specific to different threatened taxa. We found that relative to bees, moths and hoverflies are particularly sensitive to urbanization, and we highlight the importance of including these frequently overlooked pollinator groups when assessing the biodiversity impacts of environmental change."

One of those days

Unfortunately, the day started with carpet shampooing after I had managed to tip an entire mug of coffee on a new pale carpet. 

While it was drying, I popped out to the local park to check a clump of Galingale, Cyperus longus, for the newly discovered leafhopper Flastena fumipennis. I did find a couple of potential candidates but unfortunately, they were hyper frisky in the 30C heat and pinged off before they could be pooted. 

I did pot a small ladybird, and on checking, this turned out to be a Bristly Ladybird, Rhyzobius lophanthae, a species I've been looking for for years. 

Unfortunately, I managed to lose the specimen before I could get a decent photo. 

It's been one of those days...

 

This is either genius ... or incredibly stupid

We have hugely underestimated the importance of sound communication in Hemiptera (bugs). Part of the reason for this is that many bug sounds consist of low frequency infrasound, e.g. vibrating the abdomen against a plant stem, or high frequency ultrasound, and the equipment needed to work with these frequencies is not widely available. I've written previously about this in Kleidocerys, and my frustration at not owning a conveniently-sized laser Doppler vibrometer. So, what if I told you that I'd figured out (by which I mean accidentally stumbled upon), a way of recording Kleidocerys calls on my mobile phone?

Listen to the soundtrack on this short video - sorry, it's a bit quiet, you'll need to turn your volume up: 

Yesterday, confronted by Alders, I had another go at finding Kleidocerys privignus (no luck, all Kleidocerys resedae, Birch Catkin Bugs). To check the ID's I was photographing them using a floating frame (see: Floating frames for macro photography), where the bug is trapped, unharmed, between two layers of transparent flexible film. Unharmed, but in the case of one of the Birch Catkin Bugs I was working with, pretty annoyed. The film appears to transform the ultrasonic calls of the bug into a lower, hearable frequency. By holding my mobile phone near the floating frame I was able to record the bug's irritation (before releasing it completely unharmed). The question is, would I be able to tell the difference in calls between K. resedae and K. ericae (should I ever find a specimen of K. ericae)?

 

Kybos Confusion

For the first time ever I've managed to identify a Kybos leafhopper to species level. This is a very common but difficult genus where the male aedeagus is of limited help and needs to be supported by imaging the sternal apodemes and dorsal tergites. 

And the winner is ... Kybos betulicola. Except that ... there is taxonomic disagreement over the name (aka Kybos lindbergi / Kybos ludus, see: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/18234077.pdf), but the UK Checklist currently recognizes K. betulicola, so that's what it is for now.

One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for leafhoppers.

 

Entomology Update - July 2025

Much needed rain, now waiting for the Arthropods to respond. August is looking good. 

Contradictory spider

A new study of the invasive Linyphiid spider Mermessus trilobatus contradicts recent results about the spread of Mirid bugs. 

A new springtail: Entomobrya petri

Who will get the first record for VC55?

A walk in the park

Popping out before the rain pays off. 

Lumps, Bumps and Spines

Everyone loves a treehopper, but what are all those lumps, bumps and spines for?

 

Or Else

I'm still on my quest to become less rubbish with bees. After a great deal of hesitation, I splashed out on Else & Edwards monumental Bee Bible, The Bees of the British Isles.

Read previous updates

Latest photos

Or Else

I'm still on my quest to become less rubbish with bees. I felt I'd stalled recently, so after several months of struggling with Steven Falk's "field guide" (a somewhat marginal call, but you can put it in a rucksack, and if you've got a 20X hand lens, good lighting, and no wind, use it in the field), after a great deal of hesitation, I splashed out on Else & Edwards monumental Bee Bible, The Bees of the British Isles. 

And I'm glad I did. The Else & Edwards keys frequently use different characters to the Falk keys, often less subjective in my opinion, and this alone makes them easier to use. The photos & drawings are larger and better reproduced therefore it is much easier to see fine details. In addition, the Else & Edwards comes with a CD with 835 key photos - full screen screen viewing is great. So what's the snag (apart from not being able to put them in your rucksack): THE PRICE! £150!!

So is comparing these books like comparing apples and oranges? Yes it is. A reasonably priced "field guide" vs. the ultimate reference. For me it's worth it. You pays your money and you takes your choice. 

Falk, S. (2019) Field guide to the bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Else, GR and Edwards, M.(2018) Handbook of the bees of the British Isles. Vols 1 and 2. The Ray Society, London.
 

Lumps, Bumps and Spines

Everyone loves a treehopper, but what are all those lumps, bumps and spines for? A new study suggest that not only are treehoppers capable of detecting the electric fields emitted by their predators but that the morphology of the pronotum increases their sensitivity to electrical stimuli. 

Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity. (2025) PNAS 122(30):e2505253122 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2505253122

"The link between form and function of an organism’s morphology is usually apparent or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable diversity in their form, often exhibiting extreme morphologies, but with no obvious functional explanation. Treehoppers (Membracidae) are a family of insects that exemplify this, displaying an astounding morphological diversity, resulting in a plethora of extreme forms. The function of these morphological extremities and the reasons for their evolution have thus far remained largely enigmatic. However, this mystery can be considered in light of the capacity of many animals to detect electric fields in air via electrostatic actuation of mechanosensory structures on their body. Importantly, the strength of the electric field experienced by these mechanosensory structures is expected by physics to depend on the animal’s geometry, with sharp and elongated features producing the highest electric fields. Therefore, we hypothesize that the extreme morphologies of treehoppers increase their electrical sensitivity. Here, we show that treehoppers, along with their predators and mutualists, produce electric fields and that the treehopper Poppea capricornis can detect electric fields, responding behaviorally. We also demonstrate that predatory wasps and mutualist bees differ significantly in their electrostatic profiles, pointing to the sophistication of electrical information potentially available to treehoppers. Biophysical, computational, and mathematical techniques are then utilized to provide evidence that the pronotum of treehoppers is the site of electroreception and that its extreme shapes may enhance its sensitivity to electricity."

 

A walk in the park

With much needed rain on the way I took an early morning walk in my local park. I had a target species in mind but didn't find it, so abandoning the Acers, I went off piste. Walking past a large Salix alba, a quick rummage brought up a specimen of Blepharidopterus diaphanus (only a few previous VC55 records).

Before turning for home, I investigated a group of Wellingtonia, and found a few rather indistinctive bugs I took home for further investigation. Closer inspection revealed that one seemed to be Orthotylus caprai. This is a Mediterranean species which has spread across Europe and only has a handful of British records. However, with only a female specimen I couldn't be sure and it was a couple of days before I could go back and look for more. On my second visit I found a male and managed to confirm the first VC55 record for this species.

It's well worth looking out for O. caprai on scaly conifers (Cupressaceae), although you'll need sharp eyes - they're on the small side! 

 

Contradictory spider

I recently wrote about microbiome-mediated spread of the Mirid bug Apolygus lucorum. Hot on the heels of that discovery comes another - the microbiome of the invasive Linyphiid spider Mermessus trilobatus does not contribute to its dispersal and spread. 

Complicated, isn't it? 

The Microbiome of an Invasive Spider: Reduced Bacterial Richness, but no Indication of Microbial-Mediated Dispersal Behaviour. (2025) Microbial Ecology, 88(1), 70. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00248-025-02565-6

 

Entomology Update - June 2025

It's June, so it's Peak Bioblitz. Much of my activity this month has been dominated by organized group visits and walks. Sadly the results have been dented by the heat and ongoing drought.

The Pattern

In the past, 36 moths of 20 species in the garden moth trap on a warm June evening would have felt like a famine, but now it feels like the best I can hope for.

Got the stomach for it?

Research reveals a possible basis for the arrival of new bug species in VC55. 

Finishing with a bang

A tropical night brings a species I've been waiting to see for years. 

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Finishing with a bang

After what has been a tricky month, the very last night proved to be the highlight. A tropical night (according to the Met Office), and the max-min thermometer I place in my moth trap recorded a minimum temperature of 20C. And the moths responded - 247 moths of 27 species, three new for the garden - the best result I have had in years. But the moths weren't the best bit! When I turned the trap off at 3am there was a swirling cloud of life surrounding it. The by-catch comprises over 20 species of Hemiptera (which I haven't had time to sort through yet), and I didn't even attempt the Diptera or the beetles (some of which looked interesting). The absolute highlight was a species I've been waiting to see for quite a few years, the Eared Leafhopper, Ledra aurita. 

Apart from sleeping, I'd almost welcome more tropical nights.

  

Got the stomach for it?

Year by year we see changes in the VC55 bug fauna with new species arriving. In nearly every case this is because of adaptation to new food plants rather than climate as a primary cause (although climate warming probably also contributes). The question is, how do the bugs adapt? Is it due to genetic changes? A new paper describes the adaptation of the Mirid bug Apolygus lucorum to Cotton through changes in the gut microbes (microbiota) rather than waiting for the slow process of genetic change. This could go a long way to explaining how bug distribution is changing so rapidly. 

Gut microbiota facilitates the adaptation of Apolygus lucorum (Hemiptera: Miridae) to its host plant. (2025) Journal of Economic Entomology, toaf142.

https://academic.oup.com/jee/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jee/toaf142/8169253

 

The Pattern

In the past, 36 moths of 20 species in the garden moth trap on a warm June evening would have felt like a famine, but now it feels like the best I can hope for. Of these, two were new for the garden, including this Scarce Silver-lines, Bena bicolorana. This is the pattern I am seeing now - reasonable numbers of species but overall, hugely reduced numbers of insects, and diversity lower than in the past. 

 

Entomology Update - May 2025

May has been a busy month, dominated by bees. I am thankful for the relief from the spring drought at the end of the month. 

Bees Knees - Minding The Gap

Plunging into solitary bees.

Kleidocerys privignus

A new species(?) for VC55. 

Floating frames for macro photography

Another tip for insect photography.

Book Recommendation: Micro ladybirds of Britain and Ireland

One day all field guides will be this good. A real gem of a book and at a bargain price. You'd be daft not to buy it. 

Where the bee sucks

Unsurprisingly, the solitary bees I have been working with recently have often been covered in pollen (they have a lot to cram into their short adult lives).

Free Range Pollen

Working out where the bees have been. 

The Entomological Society - keeping the lights on

I'm troubled by the ongoing demise of traditional wildlife groups, the sort that (used to) meet in a village hall once a month. I observe them gradually blinking out, one by one.

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Latest photos

Free Range Pollen

Out and about recently I came across this Chocolate Mining Bee, Andrena scotica, with bulging pollen brushes (scopa), so I put my pollen "skills" into action.

95% of the pollen grains in the sample were the lower, triangular-shaped grains. This is either Bird's-foot-trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, or more likely, Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, which was present on this site. I can't tell the difference between these two and I'm not sure if it's possible without resorting to DNA. The remaining 5% were Cow Parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris, (the upper oval grain). This makes sense as while the entire site was fringed with Cow Parsley, and while it's not that attractive to bees, the sheer abundance of the pollen would make its absence a surprise. 

So, within my limited skills, it works! The only thing that occurs to me is that I really didn't learn anything in this analysis that I didn't already know from observing the bees on site. It would be worth doing with bees from unknown sites, but a little behavioural observation in the field goes a long way. 

As an aside, I'm also getting good results using dark field illumination for pollen. Can you guess what species this pollen is from (warning: it's a tricky one!)?

Where the bee sucks

Unsurprisingly, the solitary bees I have been working with recently have often been covered in pollen (they have a lot to cram into their short adult lives). I took this female Osmia bicornis from the Geranium macrorrhizum which attempts to overrun my garden (I've never rated it much as a wildlife plant but it has filled a gap which the bees have been very grateful for over the last few weeks). 

 

The large orange pollen grains are obvious, but also very distinctive under the microscope:

My favourite so far is Daisy pollen, Bellis perennis: 

So far so easy - I know the flowers I have taken the pollen from. But can I identify pollen taken from bees to work out what they have been feeding on? There are several useful websites for identifying pollen. The Global Pollen Project is good, but my favourite is the Northumbrian Bees pollen gallery. 

By coincidence, this month's Microscope Club also involved messing around with pollen and as usual, I picked up some useful tips. Size as well as shape is a key feature of identifying pollen grains and the standard is to make sure the pollen is fully hydrated before measuring, thus aqueous media are used. Glycerol Jelly is the standard medium but is a pain to work with, so I'm using Magnacol aqueous mountant. In water alone pollen grains are quite frisky and move around, making photography difficult. The Magnacol mountant contains PVA and is quite viscous, which fixes the grains better. 

This is very much a work in progress but it will be interesting to see what I can find as the season progresses (assuming there are enough hours in the day). 

Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

Book Recommendation: Micro ladybirds of Britain and Ireland

One day all field guides will be this good.

In many ways micro ladybirds ("inconspicuous ladybirds") are a perfect group for a field guide. With around 50 ladybird species in Britain, half of these are the familiar spotted ladybirds. The remaining 25 species, the "inconspicuous ladybirds", are the subject of this book. The illustrations are excellent, the descriptions of the identifying features clear and concise and the comparison plates of similar species particularly useful. A microscope is not required to use this guide, all you need is a 10x hand lens, which will reveal most of the structural features of importance.

A real gem of a book and at a bargain price. You'd be daft not to buy it: 

https://www.field-studies-council.org/shop/publications/micro-ladybirds-of-britain-and-ireland/

 

The Entomological Society - keeping the lights on

The Entomological Society, Rembrandt via Gemini AI

I'm troubled by the ongoing demise of traditional wildlife groups, the sort that (used to) meet in a village hall once a month. I observe them gradually blinking out, one by one. I don't have any magic solutions for this (maybe there are none), here I'm just whistling in the dark to console myself and using this as a sketchpad for ideas.

What is keeping local natural history groups alive? Mostly, talks on "I jetted off to an exotic location buring tons of carbon to photograph wildlife". Ironic, isn't it? 

Characteristics of thriving wildlife groups:

• Tend to have an active website or Facebook group, frequently maintained by one or a few individuals. Facebook is probably not the best platform for this, but speaks to the demographic which dominates wildlife groups. Bulletin boards, which might be an obvious alternative, seem to have mostly died, being eaten by Facebook for the elderly, and Discord or WhatsApp groups for the young. 
• Some wildlife groups may have an active website, maintained and driven by an individual who has the time and skills to support this (dangerous, can become fossilized as technology changes, single point of failure). Interestingly I'm not aware of any thriving wildlife group based around an email list or newsletter (which is odd considering the penetration of this technology into the demographic). Maybe I'm missing something?
• Tend to have synchronous face-to-face meetings in addition to online activities. This can be based on geography - local groups, or field meetings, etc, for taxon interest groups.
• And?

But: 

Communities don't live forever, they have lifetimes (particularly since most are maintained by a small number of enthusiasts). Individual members' life circumstances change, so communities evolve (rather than die). This is a tough process for individuals - natural selection - but inevitable. 

So where do we go now? DOBS

• Daylight: Daytime sessions exclude some, but given the demographic, fewer people are active after dark (except for online meetings). 
• Online: works for some, not all. Neither better nor worse than the traditional organizations, but different. 
• Go Big: national societies e.g. BENHS, BAS, etc - not good for carbon footprints.
• Go Small: local face-to-face meetings arranged directly between participants. Accept scheduling problems - everyone is too busy to do everything. Quality of interaction counts, not numbers.
• And?

Please insert your thoughts here: