Britain's Day-flying Moths: A Field Guide to the Day-flying Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, Fully Revised and Updated Second Edition David Newland, Robert Still, The discovery during the pandemic of the bug, which can affect the quality of fruit crops and spoil wine made from grapes where it is prevalent, is a further example of the ability of invasive species to spread rapidly from just a small number of individuals. Andrew Salisbury, the organisation’s principle entomologist, said: “With many more people taking up gardening and adopting new wildlife-friendly practices – growing pollinator-friendly blooms, installing ponds and building bug hotels – this is likely to have had a positive impact on insect populations.” Invasion of the stink bug: How a new agricultural pest was discovered in central London during the pandemic

Covering all fifty-one native species and twelve of uncertain origin, as well as hybrids and variants, Britain’s Orchids is an engaging, intuitive and in-depth identification guide to all the orchids of Britain and Ireland at all... A single stink bug, named after the pungent almond-like odour it emits as a defence mechanism, was found in the museum’s wildlife garden in Kensington last August as part of a study to discover whether the insect, long predicted to arrive in Britain, had finally established itself.Britain's Dragonflies: A Field Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of Great Britain and Ireland - Fully Revised and Updated Fourth Edition Dave Smallshire and Andy Swash The Royal Horticultural Society this week added its voice to concerns about the stink bug, warning it should be considered among “future threats” to gardens. Britain’s Hoverflies is a beautifully illustrated photographic field guide to the hoverflies of Great Britain and Ireland, focusing on the species that can be most readily identified. It is the perfect companion for wildlife...

Britain's Spiders: A Field Guide – Fully Revised and Updated Second Edition Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford, Just an amazing book. . . . The most amazing, and probably best, photographic guide there is to Britain’s insects."—Kate MacRae, Wildlife KateRoy pointed to explosions in the number of ladybirds and painted lady butterflies that have occurred in the past as evidence. “There are huge variations in numbers of a particular insect species in a year and huge variation in the places you see them.” She also pointed to one study of pollinators that showed while 32% became less widespread between 1980 and 2014, 16% became more widespread. “It is not all doom and gloom,” Roy added. A superb guide for everyone from the entomological generalist to the interested with an enquiring mind. . . . Invaluable."—Paul Hetherington, Atropos Magazine A masterpiece field guide 'tome'. . . . A 'must have' for everyone with a general interest in insects and I'm sure it will sneak into the libraries of quite a few seasoned experts too! ---Jim Almond, Shropshire Birder blog caption id="attachment_8911" align="alignnone" width="975"] Tansy Beetle 2 by Geoff Oxford is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/caption] Every UK household should have this to satisfy their own curiosity and make sure the kids get to love insects, as they are essential to like on earth. ---Bo Beolens, Fat Birder

The report gathers millions of records from moths caught in light traps by the Rothamsted Insect Survey and the National Moth Recording Scheme from 1968 to 2017. When the data was last analysed up to 2007, it revealed a 40% decline in southern Britain – south of Lancaster and York – but no overall change to moth abundance in northern Britain. According to research quoted in the journal Science last year, these pesticides have since been found in high concentrations in nectar and pollen in wildflowers near treated fields. Though still not at levels sufficiently high to kill insects directly, they do affect their abilities to navigate and communicate. This is the go-to guide for entomologists, naturalists, gardeners, wildlife photographers and anyone else interested in insects, whatever their level of knowledge. He said: “Fumes from vehicles, particularly diesel engines, have been shown to mask the scent from flowers making them undetectable by pollinators. A reduction in traffic will have meant that flowers will have been more attractive to pollinators, boosting not only wildflower populations, but also those of their pollinators. caption id="attachment_8903" align="alignnone" width="511"] Stauropus fagi larva by Wilhelm Helmut is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/caption]A major study this month by the charity Butterfly Conservation showed that the numbers of large moths in Britain have fallen by a third in the last 50 years due to factors including habitat loss, light pollution and climate change. Some species have declined by as much as 80 per cent, prompting the charity to warn that the diminution poses a wider risk to British wildlife with moths acting as important pollinators, in particular for species such as orchids, as well as a food source. Sadly, the interaction of human and insect life, which entomologists or insect experts emphasise time and again renders humanity heavily reliant on the continued health of bugs, has shown little sign during the pandemic of having changed the long-term trend of a disturbing decline in insect numbers. The WILDGuides are among the very best field guides available, offering multi-access identification to relatively small groups (60–150) of organisms, for example butterflies, dragonflies, day flying moths. Larger groups of organisms have been taken on, such as the spiders, where 440 of the 680 species are dealt with, the missing 240 species belonging to the Linyphiidae (the tiny money spiders that require microscopic examination), and birds, where 631 species are dealt with. Challenges indeed, but ones that the WILDGuides take in their stride and deal with exceptionally well. However, when the bar is raised to a group like ‘insects’,readers could be forgiven for wondering if the WILDGuides had taken a step too far. According to Fox, positive developments for moths include the hope that post-Brexit financial support for farmers will be based around “ public money for public goods” which could incentivise more nature-friendly farming, and afforestation efforts as long as it is “the right tree in the right place”.

This cutting-edge photographic identification guide to Europe’s sea mammals—the only such guide of its kind—covers the 39 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises and 9 species of seals found in the region, which spans the... The State of the UK’s Butterflies report – produced in 2015 by Butterfly Conservation – provided further evidence of “the serious, long-term and ongoing decline of UK butterflies”. Overall, 76% of the UK’s resident and regular migrant butterfly species had declined in either abundance or occurrence (or both) over the past four decades, it was found. “This is of great concern not just for butterflies but for other wildlife species and the overall state of the environment,” the report noted. Beetles

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When you think of British bugs, you probably imagine the humble ladybird or the friendly bumble bee. Some of us might immediately think of the not-so-fearsome house spider or the spindly daddy long legs with his long, wispy limbs. What a lot of people don’t realise is that the UK is host to a whole range of exciting and interesting insects and invertebrate hiding right under our feet! We’ve put together a list of some interesting and unusual British bugs to demonstrate how diverse these creatures can be. Craig Macadam, conservation director at insect protection group Buglife, said factors such as improved air and water quality are likely to have had a significant beneficial effect.