Martin Harvey

It's the final week of shortlisting for our Botanical Photographer of the Year competition! Use the links below to view the entries into this year's competition - vote for all those you think are particularly impressive. Shortlisting will run until 31 Oct; winners announced at the NHM on 28 Nov.

Over 7,000 fly species occur in Britain and Ireland, yet most ecological surveys overlook them! Join David Brice, @dipteristsforum.bsky.social, on 27 Oct to explore practical fly surveying methods, habitats & biological recording 🌎 🧪 Surveying For Flies Book: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1989322708...

BCE Europe is spreading its wings and our European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme online system is now being used around the world. There are now 50 wonderful schemes in 44 countries. You can see a map and all the details here butterfly-monitoring.net/bms-schemes. Get involved if you can

If you’re bored this stormy weekend why not browse loads of pics & vote for your favourites in the @bsbibotany.bsky.social Botanical Photographer of the Year? There are hundreds of creative, unusual & wonderful photos & the winner will come from the shortlist you help create bsbi.org/take-part/ac...

Our recent Cuckoo Wasp webinar with @liamcrowley.bsky.social is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5uD...

Do you know your Sphagnum? Britain's 36 Sphagnum species occupy different peatland habitats, making ID essential for conservation & restoration Join @ryanclarkecology.bsky.social on 3 Nov for a practical introduction to identifying all six species groups 🌎 🧪 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1980357119...

Quite possibly not the right kind of fly for #FlyFriday ....but aren't these lovely?! 😍 There is something so captivating about Fly Algaric #fungi. They are fab at all stages, but I most love them as a little knob, as pictured bottom left, very cute and just perfect. 🍄 #fungifriday #fungifriends

Flies are vital to ecosystems but remain under-recorded. Join David Brice and the @dipteristsforum.bsky.social on 27 October for a practical webinar exploring fly surveying methods, habitat assessment, identification and biological recording. Book: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1989322708...

An excellent job opportunity for an experienced entomologist The #DarwinTreeofLife project, based at @nhm-london.bsky.social are seeking someone with good identification skills to join this fantastic project @royentsoc.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...

How can #CitizenScience projects support diversity, equity and inclusion? Join us for a presentation and discussion to explore this question. 🗓️ Tuesday 10 November | 13:00–14:00 UTC 📍 online Learn more and register 👉️ buff.ly/qWhySqY #InclusiveCitSci #CommunityScience #ParticipatoryMethods

Very excited to be starting with @bsbibotany.bsky.social as the #LocalChange project coordinator. Polishing my hand lens and cleaning the mud off my boots - let's go! 🔎 🥾 🌱

The Horseshoe Bat Fly Phthiridium biarticulatum is not extinct in the UK. Last recorded in 1959, it appears to be doing well on Lesser Horseshoe Bats in South West England. New paper out with Thomas Foxley, Emma Stone and @orlyrazgour.bsky.social. #bats #Diptera

The strength of ants is insane! This individual had lugged a Vine Weevil at least 10x its size more than two feet up a vertical wooden fence on St Mary's this afternoon. Absolutely amazing #ants #scilly

Absolutely love this “There is wonder to be found everywhere”. It’s why I rarely hunt out rarities but can spend hours fascinated by urban ‘weeds’ on walls, pavements and in gutters. And I’ll never look at Herb-Robert in the same way again. Thank you Sarah!

[new paper] Historical trends show more declining than increasing species among European pollinators www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... A very complete exploration of historical trends and their complexities. My take-home message is that we have a warning signal, but we can still reverse the declines.

📄 Final week to submit your abstract for the Virtual Student Forum! Don't miss this opportunity to showcase your research, gain presentation experience & connect with fellow student entomologists. 📄 Abstract deadline: 17:00, 23 Oct 📝 Registration deadline: 17:00, 27 Nov buff.ly/29rrUxF #VSF26

144 million+ wildlife records are helping reveal how nature is changing across Britain. The newly published BRC Science Review 2026 demonstrates how biological recording and citizen science are transforming our understanding of biodiversity. Read more: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 1/

Please help us to spread the word about this. The first Red List update on dragonflies since 2008. british-dragonflies.org.uk/what-we-do/r...

Last Saturday was the annual @bucksinvertgroup.bsky.social field trip to look for leaf-mines and other species. This year we were at @bbowt.bsky.social Rushbeds Wood reserve, on a glorious sunny day. An enjoyable finish to this year's field season. sites.google.com/site/bucksin...

🦠 Boiling, freezing, crushing, dehydration, even the vacuum of space — tardigrades can survive it all. Join Witold Morek (@sangerinstitute.bsky.social) TOMORROW to explore the biology, ecology and remarkable adaptations of these microscopic survival experts. 🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1978418044...

Two-headed ant. This worker Lasius niger has been attacked by a worker Lasius flavus in one of the ant wars that must take place daily. Presumably its compatriots dismembered the attacker but were unable to remove the head now locked in place by rictus of the jaw muscles.

Gall of the week is caused by the sawfly Euura viminalis on purple willow, Salix purpurea. Photo from the BPGS website, photographer unknown.

A lovely day #fungifriends wandering midst waxcaps in the Peak District 🥰 Finally caught up with & smelt the Cedarwood Waxcap & my first time seeing Bitter. A good day, 12 species of waxcap seen in total & if the possible Splendid is confirmed 13, not bad at all! Early for #mushroommonday 🍄 📸

Stunning, spiny-winged Gymnomus caesius males are out there holding territory on logs in woodland now...beautiful flies and very approachable! #heleomyzidae #spinywingedflies #allerthorpecommon @ynuorg.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Some #Diptera from Wednesday's wildlife group at Oaks Wood all caught by @lancefly.bsky.social The very smart Platypezid Callomyia amoena, the anomalous (they predate aphids instead of munching fruit) Drosophilidae, Acletoxenus formosus & Fannia pallitibia. #ukwildlife @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Booking is now live for the 2026 British & Irish Botanical Conference: www.tickettailor.com/events/botan... Join us at @nhm-london.bsky.social on 28 Nov for botanical talks, exhibits, panel discussion, herbarium tours, networking, wildflower seed giveaways, ID quiz, authors, latest research & more!

Overview of the fantastic partnership between wildlife recorders, voluntary recording and monitoring schemes, @ukceh.bsky.social and many partner organisations including @jncc.bsky.social

How did soil invertebrates fare during this summer's record-breaking drought in the @nhm-london.bsky.social grounds? On 19 Nov I'll be at Generation Hope: Climate Action Together to share results from an @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social MSc project. Book free: www.nhm.ac.uk/events/gener...

Stigmella nivenburgensis is now in Britain with a sighting in Kent. It is worth checking long leaved Willows. The mines are hard to spot but run along the midrib and exit under the leaf www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Lepidop...

Peribalus strictus today found in Bengeo garden. Until recently rare species in UK but now experiencing dramatic expansion in its range. @britishbugs.bsky.social #VernalShieldbug #climatechange

Great thread about the Bogong Moth, an Australian relative of species such as Heart & Dart #TeamMoth

They've finally arrived in #VC55. Firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus: www.naturespot.org/species/fire... #Bugs #Hemiptera #Pyrrhocoridae

1/ Nature is in peril. Drastic declines and specialist species struggling is what the Wild Bird Indicators, using BTO data & published by Defra, show. Here’s what we know ⬇️ The All Bird Species Index shows 19% declines in the UK since 1970. This comprises 132 species. 📉 #Ornithology

Brian Baker was my predecessor as Berkshire county moth recorder, and was a brilliant field worker - good to be reminded of one of his many discoveries #TeamMoth

🚨 The new Red List for Britain’s dragonflies is here! The 2026 review draws on 1.3 million+ records collected over 20 years. 8 species are now classed as Endangered, twice as many as in 2008. 📖 Read the full review & share: buff.ly/muwGa3Z

BeeWalk is booming: 43,000 records have been submitted so far this year. As one of the world’s largest bumblebee datasets, BeeWalk has been highlighted in a Scottish Parliament motion lodged by the Great Yellow bumblebee champion Liam McArthur, MSP. Read the story: https://ow.ly/mSGG50ZXUI7

Drawing on over 140 million species records collected by volunteer recorders, recording schemes and citizen scientists, biodiversity data has transformed our understanding of the natural world over the past decade. Read more here! www.brc.ac.uk/theme/brc-sc... @ukceh.bsky.social

This is a brilliant explanation of their paper. Butterflies avoid bird predation by having brightly coloured upperwings that fool birds they are going slower than they are. The comparison with the spiral barbers pole is genius. Add butterflies erratic flight means no birds have evolved to catch them

Just seen a Peacock #butterfly flying in sunshine in the garden, lovely to see and unusually late in the year

🌙 Can connecting with nature after dark boost wellbeing and inspire conservation? 🦋 Dr @drchrisbarnes.bsky.social (University of Derby) shares research on moths, crane flies and nighttime nature experiences. Now available to watch for FREE! 🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9NY...

Very very excited to say that the books I've been working on are ready for pre-order! The first is "Art in the Field: Wildflowers" and covers techniques, pencil skills, watercolour, & step by step projects... @dandcbooks.bsky.social www.google.com/search?q=978...

PoMS FIT Counts reveal Common Ivy as the most popular flower for pollinating insects! Read more in today’s news story from our partners at @savebutterflies.bsky.social ⬇️

Back in 2022 I tried to see every species of Dragon and Damselfly in the UK. And I filmed as I went, which you can now watch as a 2hr documentary here: youtu.be/mPtxZId1YSU

Essential reading 📚

Fascinating flies and delightful dipterists at a marvellous museum 😀 - see you there 👍 (13-14 November)

A very helpful article 🙏 on some tricky true bugs in genus Psallus, that occur on Turkey Oak

Excited to host this free event on Riverflies on 12 November for @theul.bsky.social and @camglamresearch.bsky.social. Featuring Mark Wormald, WildFish, Louise Berridge @nhm-london.bsky.social and Zoë Simmons @morethanadodo.bsky.social. Register at www.lib.cam.ac.uk/whats/riverf...

🌿 Restoring meadows to our floodplains Join Professor David Gowing at our Annual Meeting to explore the restoration of floodplain meadows, their benefits for biodiversity and what the future could hold for our floodplains. 📅 14 Nov | 📍 Milton Keynes 🎟️ british-dragonflies.org.uk/event/bds-an...

Phytomyza germenilicis now published in collaboration with @dan-h-n.bsky.social, Carina van Steenwinkel & Rens Hendrickx. Look out for its distinctive mines on Holly (Ilex) seedlings this winter. @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @panspecieslisting.bsky.social www.researchgate.net/publication/...