This is a flowering, hardly grazed knapweed plant in a grazing cell we came out of a couple of days ago with ~50 head cattle. Managed grazing and biodiversity, a wee🧵

A nice little Solva marginata - Drab Wood-soldierfly male from Graham Denny today. One of perhaps 6 seen lekking or similar, flitting from leaf to leaf. Riverside scrub with plenty of dead and decaying Poplar and Willow, so classic habitat.

Domestic #IPM Daddy Long Legs Spider dealing with a Brown House Moth in the utility room this morning.

Anyone got any views on ladybird (1 of 2) impaled on Spear Thistle prickle today in North Suffolk? Is this accidental in some way or has something done it? Graham Denny Steven Falk Ross Piper @suffolkwild

Buff-tailed Bumblebee nest totally destroyed by the Hedgerow Highwayman. With nectar/pollen & bumble/bird mixes going in & any amount of conservation work to help our bees going on it seems a bit mad we often encourage their major predator.

Such a common, old-fashioned field edge arable weed, but a beautiful flower nonetheless. Field Bindweed today in North Essex.

Gatekeeper day today in Suffolk Graham Denny SuffolkWildlifeTrust @savebu

#Farm24 a small snippet of what I do 24/7/365 Defra UK Janet Hughes Butterfly Conservation 🦋 Bumblebee Conservation Trust BTO Suffolk FWAG East Gareth Wyn Jones The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Oakbank Game Nature Friendly Farming Network FarmingUK David Basham East Anglia Bylines SWT Farm Wildlife Advice Cath HODSMAN, Insect Art cat frampton Rab 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇺🇦

Hats off to IpswichGov for creating wildlife habitat in all our town parks. Christchurch Park is a jewel but this was Alexandra Park this afternoon. A belt of scrubby trees have been planted fronted by wild flowers which were full of bumblebees & other insects. ❤

I think I'm starting to see an encouraging increase in bumblebee numbers now in Suffolk - fingers crossed. Fresh queens collecting pollen and tiny workers pointing to new nests underway. Another male lucorum today after not seeing any for several years. Bumblebee Conservation Trust

There is quite a lot going on there up in the oak tree.

One of my favourites. Melitta tricincta today in West Suffolk.

#Feather #Serendipity

What's a #spider afraid of? A #pompilid wasp. What's a pompilid wasp afraid of? A pompilid-mugger wasp. Fascinating breeding strategy. Ceropales maculata male from East Suffolk yesterday.

My latest writing on wasps.. putting some facts behind the headlines. "Where the UK’s wasps have gone and why they need your help" theconversation.com/where-the-uks-… via The Conversation UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research UCL News Royal Entomological Society Prof Adam Hart 🦏 Big Wasp Survey

Kev Hi Kev, yes they were overplayed. Buglife re-examined the data and unsafe stats for horse mortality. Under normal situations, stock and ragwort happily coexist. It is only when it gets into hay there is an issue. It is extremely valuable for pollinators & biodiversity.

Tachina grossa this afternoon up on the hills near Stiperstones, Shropshire. Chris Raper Ian Andrews Dipterists Forum Dr Erica McAlister

Ivy Bees were out in Bridgnorth yesterday.

Ivy is happening. Graham Denny Bumblebee Conservation Trust Butterfly Conservation 🦋 SWT Farm Wildlife Advice @dipter

Ivy is happening and so are Ivy Bees. Probably something like 3000 plus, mostly males, milling about on this former arable field in Suffolk. Graham Denny SWT Farm Wildlife Advice Bumblebee Conservation Trust ABDULRAHMEN