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.
Struggling with the problem of dark taxa.
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.
Visiting a local Oak proves worthwhile.
Murder in the flowerbed.
Notable Finds
Homoporus gibbiscuta, first record for VC55
Reptalus quinquecostatus, first record for VC55
News from Elsewhere
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.
