Entomology

I think it's safe to say she'll be eating well tonight.

Staff at the conservation zoo, renowned for its work to bring species back from the brink, were called in by fellow charity Buglife Cymru to start an emergency breeding effort for the Scarce Yellow Sally Stonefly - part of a rescue mission to save the species from extinction following its rediscovery in the River Dee, North Wales.

Having not been recorded since 1995, two small populations were found in the river - believed to be the only remaining location for the stonefly in the UK. In 2022 conservationists from wildlife charities Buglife Cymru, Chester Zoo, the Welsh Dee Trust and freshwater invertebrate specialist John Davy-Bowker set about sampling and carefully collecting a small number of the stoneflies from the areas where they were rediscovered.

"In just a few weeks we were able to understand the species and its lifecycle, breeding patterns and favoured environment. Everything we have learned so far, including every slight tweak we made, has been meticulously recorded and given us a detailed blueprint which we hope will set the foundations for a conservation breeding programme for the critically endangered insect - all while helping to further increase the small surviving population in the River Dee.".

"This species is highly vulnerable to habitat loss, pollution incidents from sewage and litter, as well as climate change. The stoneflies need highly oxygenated, clean water to thrive so it's important that their habitat in the River Dee is protected - especially as it's currently the only known location in the UK for this species."

The Scarce Yellow Sally Stonefly is a critically endangered species that was first identified in the River Dee in 1959 and was regularly recorded up until 1995 when subsequent surveys failed to locate any living populations in the UK. The species was presumed to have gone extinct in the British Isles - while a small number of populations were diminishing across Eastern Europe.

Cant even identify a simple ladybug.

Glaswegian bugs from David Hamilton

Yellow Velvet Beetle - Lepturobosca chrysocoma

Pardon the dorky title, insects are just unreal sometimes 😭

Orange-legged Drone Fly, Eristalis flavipes

It's that time of year when I spend a good chunk of time with my head crammed into patches of goldenrod hunting for cool bumblebees. I'm always delighted to be fooled for a moment. 😁

This cicada is such a brilliant emerald with gold tints. And they screm.

Honduras, June 2023

Wallonia, Belgium, today.

I stumbled upon a plant covered with small bundles of aphids, and sure enough, upon closer inspection, it had a whole aphid farming operation going on, and ladybugs had found it.

The ant tried blocking the way but fell off. Hopefully it's okay somewhere. The aphids, unfortunately, will not be.

This was the biggest millipede I've ever seen. It was at least 6 inches long.

Honduras, June 2023

Momma pushed em out of the house early. There were a lot of them moving in the same direction. I hope they made it!

Utila, Honduras, July 2022

Three species (that I know of) in this photo--Argynnis aphrodite, Boloria bellona, and Argynnis cybele. The toad is an American toad.

Pennslyvania, July 2023

I realize this wont be the highest quality image in this community but as a total amateur who knows nothing of insects, I got excited seeing this little ant dutifully dragging a dead centipede(?) across my garden bed as I was weeding.

This is one of my favorite observations from this summer--a tailless whip scorpion with tiny jelly beans. She was really fiesty, with good reason! We shoo'd her out of the road, much to her displeasure, so scooters wouldn't run her over.

Utila, Honduras