Invasive species week - Introducing the American mink
American mink are non-native and pose a threat to water voles in our region. Naturally Native Project Officer, Emily Marshall takes a detailed look at this species and how we can help restore…
American mink are non-native and pose a threat to water voles in our region. Naturally Native Project Officer, Emily Marshall takes a detailed look at this species and how we can help restore…
The bee orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t…
The Notch-horned cleg-fly isa horse fly dark grey in colour, with grey-brown mottled wings and intricately striped, iridescent eyes. There are 30 species of horse-fly in the UK; this is one of the…
Our largest and most common bee-fly, the dark-edged bee-fly looks just like a bumblebee, and buzzes like one too! It feeds on flowers like primroses and violets in gardens, parks and woodlands.…
This large green moth rests with its wings spread, so is sometimes mistaken for a butterfly.
The large white is a common garden visitor - look out for its brilliant white wings, tipped with black.
With ginger hairs, dark banding and a cream tail, the Narcissus bulb fly looks like a bumble bee, but is harmless to us. This mimicry helps to protect it from predators while it searches for…
The scorpion fly, as its name suggests, has a curved 'tail' that looks like a sting. It is, in fact, the males' claspers for mating. It is yellow and black, with a long 'beak…
Despite its name, the large blue is a fairly small butterfly, but the largest of our blues. It was declared extinct in 1979, but reintroduced in the 1980s and now survives in southern England.
Our most common hoverfly, the marmalade fly is orange with black bands across its body. It feeds on flowers like tansy, ragwort and cow parsley in gardens, hedgerows, parks and woodlands.
The Alder fly is a blackish invertebrate, with delicately veined wings that it folds over its body like a tent. It can be found near ponds and slow-flowing rivers; the larvae living in the silt at…
As its name suggests, the Large skipper is bigger than the similar-looking Small skipper! It can be seen in summer, resting on the long grass of grasslands, woodlands, verges and sand dunes.