The 'wing-waving' bit of the Semaphore fly's (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus) mating behaviour. The male is the slightly larger fly with the white wing tips.

A Beewolf (Philanthus triangulum) being a beewolf! Collecting a honeybee and taking it down into its nest (which can be 1m deep and have up to 34 short side tunnels). The honeybee is placed into a cell with an egg.

Check Wingnut trees near you for the Wingnut gall mite, Aceria pterocaryae. First recorded in Britain in 2006, and rarely seen since. I checked nearby Wingnut trees; a Chinese wingnut and Rhedar wingnut and both have this gall on them. There are no records in the NBM atlas. #ukplantgalls

Moth trapping this morning in Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Not a great haul for July - the cold nights and drought may have something to do with this, but still an impressive list. (Please ignore the printed date as we are reusing an old diary to record the species).

A male Broad-bordered yellow underwing (Noctua finbriata) hardening his wings off this afternoon in Cambridge. These photos are between 1-4pm and he left sometime after 4pm today. This moth shows sexual dimorphism as the females are a pale orangy/creamy buff whilst the males are brown.

2026 is a Painted Lady Year. Every 10 years or so there is a mass migration & in 2019 about 11 million migrated to the UK. Each Spring they migrate from tropical Africa though this is completed over several generations. In the autumn they travel back to Africa at high altitude to repeat the cycle.

More pictures from Strawberry Hill NR last weekend. Despite the cool and cloudy day we saw some interesting moths, including a Coleophora kuenella case. #ukmoths #mothsmatter #wildlifebcn

More pictures from Strawberry Hill NR last weekend. Despite the cool and cloudy day we saw some nice butterflies. #ukbutterflies

World Bee Day. Here are some bumblebees making good use of a poppy in Cambridge today. #worldbeeday

Blossom underwing caterpillars on Oak in Strawberry Hill NR yesterday #ukmoths #bcbedsnorthants #wildlifebcn

Butterflies from yesterday: Small blues, Common blues, Small coppers, Painted ladies and Brown argus. Chalk landscape near Cambridge.

A Holly blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus) ovipositing on Sainfoin in Cambridge today. It is a good year for first brood Holly blues. #cambridgewildlife #ukbutterflies

Grantchester Field Studies: 26th April. Lots of Tortoise beetles were found (Cassida vibex). The fierst clue was in the small round holes in the Knapweed leaves. A bit of searching and we began to find these green camouflage experts. #ukbeetles

Grantchester Field Studies: 26th April. A Mottled shieldbug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) flew into the churchyard and posed for a photo. There were lots of Hairy shieldbugs and also Brassica shieldbugs in all their different colours. #ukhemiptera #shieldbugs

Photos from the 2026 Conversazione are now on our facebook page - Jim Woodhouse, Lois Clarke, & setting out the exhibits (photos by Bob Jarman, Rhona Watson & Graham Copekoga).

Summer 2026 outings

A female Small snakefly (Xanthostigma xanthostigma) seen in Cambridge yesterday afternoon. Sankeflies are not usually seenas when young they live under tree bark and when adult, are usually at the tops of trees. Perhaps this one had just emerged.

A young Wood mouse aka Long-tailed field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) seen in Cambridge yesterday. #cambsmammalgroup

Last talk of the season on Wednesday 22nd April in Cambridge. In person or online, all welcome.

More moths from the Cambridge Botanic Gardens this morning. It is hard to beat a morning with a Puss moth, a Mullein, Muslin moths, as well as Least black arches, Many plumed, Early grey etc. #mothsmatter #cambsmoths #teammoth

Ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria) and its main kleptoparasite, Lathbury's nomad bee (Nomada lathburiana). Both seen today in Cambridge - a new colony of about 20 Ashy mining bees and one nomad bee flying around. #ukbees

A pair of Speckled wood butterflies today. The male is trying to mate with the female and is wafting pheromones over her. The female is not interested and eventually plays dead to try to discourage the male.

My first Speckled wood and Holly blues of the season today in Cambridge. There were also Peacocks, a Red admiral and Brinstones flying about. My friends also saw a male Orang tip on the wing yesterday. #bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social

Chiffchaff and Blackcap. The spring weather meant that the new arrivals were singing in the woods today. #birdsoc_cam

Just in case you are free this Saturday, the wonderful Cambridge Natural History Festival is on. All welcome! #NatHistCam #CNHSConversazione

Spring moth trapping. King's College meadow is full of Cowslips and Snakeeshead fritillaries. Only one moth today, the 'local' Agonopterix purpurea but there were 7 Marbled beauty caterpillars on the white wall behind the trap (they feed on lichen). #mothsmatter

Eyed ladybird spotted today in Cambridge. On low vegetation quite a way from Pine trees. Great to see as there aren't many records in Cambridge of this beetle. #ukladybirds

A beautiful morning to go moth-trapping in the Botanic Gardens with the cherries in full bloom. Great to see some new students joining us too. 10 people, and lots of moths: Clouded drab, Hebrew characters, Common quakers, Lichen tortrix and even a Pine beauty #cubotanicgarden #moths #teammoths

A Peacock butterfly (Aglais io) nectaring amongst Apple blossom today in Cambridge.

Lots of ladybirds out in the sun today; including 2 Harlequins infected with the fungus green moss-like fungus; Hesperomyces harmonie. I also found a 2-spot, a 10-spot, possibly hundreds of 7-spots and many harlequins. #hesperomyces