Leptometopa latipes (Milichiidae)...2-3mm freeloader fly. Seem to be few records nationally, but conservative estimate of 5000 today at Bempton Cliffs, where I suspect they associate with seabird guano. They were all over the cliff edge hand rails! @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @ynuorg.bsky.social

Huge congrats to @jasboparai.bsky.social on what I'm sure will be an essential book for an underworked group. But absolute shame on CABI & @royentsoc.bsky.social for their new pricing. £125 for a 25-species handbook is unreasonable and will prevent it from reaching its deserved audience.

The Darwin Wasps of the British Isles – Tribe Pimplini (family Ichneumonidae, subfamily Pimplinae) | CABI Books

tinyurl.com

Pleased to have been told by the publishers this will be available for release from the 26th June (ebook 19th). Many thanks to the reviewers, editors and others who gave their time and expertise towards getting this finalised. I Hope readers find it useful. tinyurl.com/5br4skkv #Ichneumomonidae

The Darwin Wasps of the British Isles – Tribe Pimplini (family Ichneumonidae, subfamily Pimplinae) | CABI Books

tinyurl.com

Dead but still looking good - the seeds of Medicago praecox (Early Medick) seen today at Lee-on-the-Solent, a known site for this very rare non-native. plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9... @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A couple from this weekend. The uncommon neophyte Melilotus indicus (Small Melilot) on a roundabout near Portsmouth and the extremely rare Ranunculus ophioglossifolius (Adder's-tongue Spearwort) in Gloucestershire. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

I built a thing for me and thought it might be useful for others. It's a set of guides, 20 at the moment, to help with my rubbish memory when doing ids in the field. Everything is cached on your device so works in low signal areas. naturesfieldbook.com

Nature's Fieldbook

Notes and photos to help identifications out in the field.

naturesfieldbook.com

Turritis glabra (Tower Mustard) near Kingsley, Hants. A very nice plant. Visit inspired by @trisnorton.bsky.social post the other day.

After months of work my Norfolk Pseudoscorpion guide for @norfolknats.bsky.social is now on the website free to see/download. Covers 20 species recorded in Norfolk so hopefully useful for other areas of UK. norfolknaturalists.org.uk/wp/wp-conten...

A long-held birding dream realised last week with several Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti) in Algerian Oak (Quercus canariensis) woodland, Tamentout-forest, Sétif Province. Thanks to Karim Haddad & Mehdi Chetibi for guiding.

A lovely little frog-faced Brachydeutera fly (Ephydridae), hanging out on some standing water. Texas.

Primula elatior (Oxlip) early on a damp morning in Buff Wood a couple of weeks back @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Limnellia surturi...a rather smart, rather little shore fly (Ephydridae) on sand outside a rabbit burrow at Cali Heath @yorkswildlife.bsky.social reserve yesterday. Looks to be a new VC record. #Ephydridae #shoreflies @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @ynuorg.bsky.social

A nice little Chlorops from Waitby Greenriggs Nature Reserve, Cumbria, collected on the @dipteristsforum.bsky.social summer 2024 meeting. Awaiting confirmation but seems to be C. geminatus, a species not on the UK list

Very exciting that this book is nearly here and even more so that among all the flies I'm also featured (tiny and blurry in the top left of the pic)

NatureBureau@naturebureau.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Ben Lawers, Perthshire, 8th of 9 great places to see an amazing range of flies featured in our guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland due mid-Feb 2026. Hurry, pre-pub offer runs til 31 Jan bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @rdimond.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Very exciting news for all Sphaeroceridae fans

Dave Brice@davebriceflies.bsky.social · 7mo ago

After being rather busy and after much procrastination, today I started on the outline for a new Sphaeroceridae key; this may take a while (a couple of years maybe)! Copromyzinae first, pic of Alloborborus pallifrons @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @sjthomasbotany.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Help us unlock the Plants of the Past, by supporting volunteers to digitise decades of paper records & inform C21st science! @biggive.bsky.social From #GivingTuesday to 9 Dec, we have £10K in matched funds to unlock: every donation, however small, will be doubled: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Unlocking the Plants of the Past – Big Give

Decades of botanical observations of our vital wild plants are trapped in paper records and archives - through the efforts …

donate.biggive.org

A dipterist's dipteron, the elusive Borboropsis puberula. The only member of the family in the UK. Restricted to the Scottish Highlands. This one from Ben Lawers is probably the 7th UK record. #Diptera #Entomology @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

I'm speaking on #Chloropidae, trying to make a difficult and neglected group a little more accessible via a group-sourced Flickr photo library. Also looking forward to hearing the other speakers. www.flickr.com/groups/chlor...

Chloropidae UK & Ireland

Group for reliably identified reference images of UK & Irish Chloropidae flies

flickr.com

DipteristsForum@dipteristsforum.bsky.social · 9mo ago

It's that time of year again, Dipterists Forum 'Dipterists Day & AGM' 🪰 Nov 14th 2025- a day in the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge Diptera collections Nov 15th 2025 - Dipterists Day and AGM For more details please go to dipterists.org.uk/events/dipte...

I'm currently updating and making corrections to the Ephydridae key prepared for the @dipteristsforum.bsky.social workshop. Please let me know if you've noticed any errors or anything that might need updating. Comments, DM or email to sjthomasbotanyATgmail.com please. #Diptera #entomology

New #GBRedList for vascular plants is published today by a team led by @bsbibotany.bsky.social with partners @naturalengland.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social @natreswales.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social @plantlifeintl.bsky.social @rbgkew.bsky.social @thebotanics.bsky.social

Empis digramma female #Empididae. A distinctive pale yellow species with short bristles and two stripes on the scutum. Frequent in the north of the UK. #Diptera #Entomology #insectphotography #inverts #bugsky #macro

The very small #Chloropidae Pseudopachychaeta ruficeps swept this spring from alpine sedge flushes, Beinn Ghlas, Ben Lawers NNR. This species develops in the inflorescences of Eriophorum (Cottongrass) species. #Diptera #Entomology @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Gonatherus planiceps female #Scathophagidae. A uncommonly collected, spring-flying, species of upland flushes and other wet habitats in the mountains. This one from Beinn Ghlas in the Ben Lawers NNR this May. #Diptera #Entomology @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

It's not asylum seekers who jack up rents, undermine the NHS, hold down wages and keep people insecure. It's capital. The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.

However you arrive in the UK you are welcome. People who are 'concerned about immigration' are racist. The government is at fault for poverty. Stop punching down.

Ranunculus x levenensis with parent spp R. reptans Creeping Spearwort & R. flammula Lesser Spearwort on a Cumbrian lake shore. The hybrid has larger flowers & broader lamina than reptans with linear leaves. R. reptans has few GB locations, often ephemeral being introduced from the arctic by birds

Rock sea-lavenders from the Afon Crigyll Estuary Ynys Môn: Limonium recurvum subsp. crigyllensis (with rough scape) described in 2022 by Ivor Rees and only know from this site where it grows with the more widespread L. procerum (smooth scape). @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

Hypopitys monotropa (Yellow Bird’s-nest) from an evening woodland walk. This is subspecies hypophegea which is completely glabrous, often delicate, yellowish with fewer flowers. Now is the time to check the subsp. ID of your local populations with Fred Rumsey's @bsbibotany.bsky.social News key.

Scotland trip started on Skye: Koenigia islandica (Iceland-purslane) only just germinating and the weather too bad for Arabis alpina on the Cuillins. However, Ligusticum scoticum (Scots Lovage) was looking lovely at Armadale. 1/5 @bsbiscotland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

Just back from a mostly productive botany trip around western Scotland, still need to edit the plant photos so here's a delightful male Snow Bunting singing on the summit of Ben Nevis in the evening sunshine.