Tim Worfolk
@timworfolk.bsky.social
Bird illustration, insect photography, getting more local (Topsham, Devon) every year. My photos are here https://www.flickr.com/photos/141833872@N05/albums
Here's the full story of what we believe to be the start of the colonisation of yet another new orthopteran to the British Isles.
Team cricket - how we found a cricket new to the British Isles
This following italicised sections were written by Matt Phelps, who first heard this unusual cricket... I strolled over to Sussex Wildlif...
analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com
Bystock DWT Reserve this morning. Most of the best stuff on the ragwort as usual. No Hornet Robberfly but nice to find a Heath Potter Wasp. Names etc. in Alt Texts #DevonWildlifeTrust
Blue Ground Beetle eating a Tree Slug. Once caught it injects digestive juices into the slug turning it into 'slug soup' then sucks up its insides. Dartmoor, Devon. I will be talking about the conservation of this amazing beetle at Coombeshead Farm Devon next weekend keepitwild.uk/if-not-now-w...
Day out by train Topsham to Okehampton looking for shade in woods along East Okement River. Lovely walk and found a few good flies: Conops flavipes new for me; Megamerina dolium I've only ever seen once before: 16 years ago. Names in ALT Texts #diptera @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
Mediterranean Spotted Chafer (Oxythyrea funesta). This is my fourth record from Topsham: 2019, 2020 (two) all in our garden. Found this about 1km away near Bowling Green Marsh. I think no other Devon records of this increasingly widespread sp. but possibly now established around here? #coleoptera
I found this spectacular Musk Beetle in a bit of scrub near a new housing development. The larvae develop in willows and the upper Exe Estuary area seems the best place to find this sp. in Devon. #coleoptera
This is exactly why we have Pride. Because a few years ago this would have just been a hateful fringe figure - but this is where our politics is heading with a Government that kertows. We will resist. And bring hope (*and* electing progressive politicians.) We will win. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
It's worth stressing that the *magnitude* by which some of these records are being broken is nothing short of astonishing
Ed Hawkins@edhawkins.org · last mo.Hotter and hotter and hotter www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
When trans people are under attack, "don't be political" is not an option. And we'll never be silent when a Labour Government are making life impossibly hard for trans people. We see you. And we stand with you. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
News from the local Wasp Bank: Beewolves very active now also two new spp. for the site: Orange-horned Nomad Bee (Nomada fulvicornis) and White-spotted Digger Wasp (Harpactus tumidus). This tiny spot just gets better and better! Details in ALT Texts. #hymenoptera
Certainly beautiful and great photos!
Bill Coulson@devonshirenature.bsky.social · last mo.Tiny, very fast moving and very beautiful this is the Green-eyed Flower Bee Anthophora bimaculata. These can now be seen flying flying on Bovey Heath foraging mainly on Heather and Bramble. Their nest burrows are dug into well trodden footpaths.
Good day for moths it seems. Names etc in ALT Texts though any ID help with first would be much appreciated. #teammoth
35C forecast in Topsham this week so it's decided we go camping in South Devon. About 5 degrees cooler near the coast so not a bad idea. Pond campsite at Beeson held a few Brown-eyed Hawkers so everybody happy. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
I will be at Longmarsh, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5UH with Georgi Gilpin looking at moths and caterpillars this Sunday 21 June 2026 at 9.30 am. Free event with art materials available for producing your own 'moth art'.
Fake news is putting Dartmoor’s ponies at risk. New deep dive by me into the current furore around Dartmoor's ponies. www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/ponies-...
Ponies, Dartmoor and fake news
There’s been a deluge of misinformation recently about ponies on Dartmoor. Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s Tony Whitehead looks at the origins and potential impacts of the current “pony campaigning". He st...
dartmoornature.org.uk
More a wasp bank than a bee bank: a 3m section of exposed Devon hedge bank with a marvellous diversity of hymenopteran life. Just a small selection here, names in ALT texts. Topsham, Devon. @melcoate.bsky.social #hymenoptera
Moth ID help please. I suspect this may be Aethes deaurana, rare immigrant but may be becoming established? any thoughts? 5/6/2026 Topsham, Devon. #TeamMoth
Yesterday morning I found this tiny beauty on a gate while walking through Topsham. It looked smart and I didn't recognise it. Turned out to be a new one for me and apparently rare in Devon: Chrysoclista linneella - Lime Flame. #Lepidoptera #teammoth
A new species for me and appears to be another county first: Agrilus biguttatus (Buprestidae). No records for south west on NBN and no Devon records in Martin Luff's 2021 list. Topsham, Devon. #Coleoptera
If you are interested in learning to identify the UKs ground beetles there are free guides to download on my website johnwalters.co.uk/publications...
A few days visiting friends in Surrey, a few hours pottering around lanes, heaths and garden, a few really nice finds. Names etc. in Alt Texts.
Just found my 2nd a couple of days later! Same species this time in Surrey.
Tim Worfolk@timworfolk.bsky.social · 3mo agoGuess who just found their first Snakefly? I been wanting to find one of these beasts for years and when I saw this sat on a leaf I knew immediately what it was. Luckily it's a species that can be identified on forewing venation: Atlantoraphidia maculicollis, Pine Snakefly.
I am giving an online talk this evening(Tuesday 12 May 2026) 7 pm on the wildlife of Dartmoors' temperate rainforests including the slug munching Blue Ground Beetle, the weird Hazel Gloves fungus and Redstarts www.dartmoor.gov.uk/enjoy-dartmo...
Definitely one of my favourite groups. Thanks Will.
Will George@willgeorge.bsky.social · 3mo agoDecided to try and write something about what bugs to look for through the year - Bedfordshire-centric, but probably fairly applicable across most of central to southern England. Feedback welcome! #Heteroptera sites.google.com/view/bedsbug...
Guess who just found their first Snakefly? I been wanting to find one of these beasts for years and when I saw this sat on a leaf I knew immediately what it was. Luckily it's a species that can be identified on forewing venation: Atlantoraphidia maculicollis, Pine Snakefly.
I am giving a talk at the Wild Gardens Conference, Totnes this afternoon (9th May 2026) tips on attracting insects to your garden including these cob brick bee hotels for Hairy-footed Flower bees www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wild-garde...
Warm and cloudy with sunny spells - ideal conditions for finding co-operative insects. Today's sightings and more images on the blog dawlishwarren.blogspot.com/2026/05/tues...
From the garden today, Topsham, Devon. Names in Alt texts.
