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Category Archives: Insects
Bringing butterflies and bees back to Skolie Burn SSSI
Since starting a Community Woodland group, Ian Records’ life has changed completely – dropping leaflets, knocking on doors, writing up woodland management plans and doing flower surveys. Here, he tells how a protected area can galvanise a local community to take action to improve their local area for people and wildlife. Continue reading
Posted in Access, bees, biodiversity, citizen science, Community engagement, conservation, Ecology, Flowers, Insects, Land management, meadow, Orchids, plants, Projects, Scotland's Protected Places, SNH, SSSI, Uncategorized, Volunteering, wild flowers
Tagged bees, butterflies, citizen science, Community Groups, Edinburgh, grassland, meadows, nature, Orchids, pollinators, regeneration, Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Site of special scientific interest, Skolie Burn, SNH, SSSI, UK, wild flowers, woodland regeneration
Tiny shells and hidden animals
Do you like snails? The gastropod molluscs commonly found in your garden are probably the first thing that spring to mind. Or maybe you smell garlic and see a yummy plate of l’escargot. However, this small word covers an array … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, climate change, Insects, SNH, Uncategorized
Tagged climate change, conservation, Habitats, molluscs, Protected Areas, SAC, Scottish Natural Heritage, snails, SNH, SSSI
Trick or treat?
Stuck for ideas for your Halloween costume? You could do worse than seek inspiration from the masters of disguise that inhabit the natural world all around us. Many of our insects and pollinators have evolved a variety of weird and … Continue reading
Posted in Insects
Tagged butterflies, camouflage, caterpillars, Halloween, hoverflies, mimicry, pollinators, zombie fungus
Snails and grasshoppers on the menu at EU wild LIFE conference
Spiders, bees, grasshoppers, snails and other creepy-crawlies are top of the bill at an International nature conference taking place in Scotland this week. Wildlife specialists and project managers from across the European Union (EU) are meeting in Stirling for a … Continue reading
Posted in bees, biodiversity, climate change, conference, Ecology, Flanders Moss NNR, Insects, Land management, peatland restoration, plants, Projects, Uncategorized
Tagged bugs, connectivity, ecological coherence, EU, Flanders Moss NNR, insects, invertebrates, LIFE, nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, SNH
Butterflies of the night, beautifully captured.
Having a keen personal interest in macro photography, Caroline Anderson jumped at the chance to use her Volunteering Day to help reserve staff with a moth trap at Taynish National Nature Reserve. Caroline, a Unit Administrator based in our Lochgilphead … Continue reading
Posted in Argyll National Nature Reserves, art, biodiversity, citizen science, conservation, Insects, moth, Nature in art, photography, Staff profile, Taynish NNR, Uncategorized
Tagged Caroline Anderson, insects, moths, nature, NNR, photography, SNH, Taynish, Volunteering
Meet the pot beetles, nature’s quirky architects
Teams of volunteers led by Buglife and supported by SNH have recently rediscovered two species of pot beetles that have not been seen in Scotland for many years. Athayde Tonhasca introduces these lovely beetles with peculiar habits. The species that … Continue reading
Posted in Insects
Tagged biodiversity, Chrysomelidae, insects, pot beetle, Scottish Natural Heritage
Meet the secretive large velvet ant
After an absence from the records of 32 years, the large velvet ant (Mutilla europaea) has been sighted again in Scotland by Dr Jenni Stockan from the James Hutton Institute. Athayde Tonhasca reveals the idiosyncrasies of this surprising insect. Velvet … Continue reading
Posted in Insects
Tagged cleptoparasite, dimorphism, insects, large velvet ant, Mutilla europaea, Scottish Natural Heritage
Species of the month – the oak marble gall wasp
You would never imagine that tiny, obscure wasps like this could have a place in British history, or indeed have contributed to the culture and literacy of the Western world. But follow Athayde Tonhasca’s thread. Let there be gall enough … Continue reading
Posted in Insects
Tagged Andricus kollari, biodiversity, gall, insects, oak, oak marble gall wasp, Scottish Natural Heritage
Scotland’s Nature weekly – 4 August
– A rare pea-sized jellyfish and the surprisingly deadly six-spot burnet moth are out and about at this time of year and under the spotlight in this week’s blog. Exploring Shetland’s sea caves and rocky reefs With the help of … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Marine
Tagged biodiversity, CNglcs, marine, marine survey, Mousa, SAC, Scottish Natural Heritage, six-spot burnet moth, SNH
Deadwood … good wood
There is great ‘natural’ value in deadwood, as Sarah Smyth of our Ecoystems and Biodiversity team explains. Trees contribute a huge amount as living organisms providing shelter and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, pollution reduction, water runoff reduction , … Continue reading
