🐞 Join us on one of our invertebrate recording days this year 🐜
Our recording day programme brings together recorders from across the North West to collect important invertebrate data at sites that are under‑recorded or not normally accessible.
www.northwestinvertebrates.org.uk/events/
Female Common Earwigs Forficula auricularia are very good mothers. After spending the winter guarding her batch of eggs she cares for the nymphs for several weeks and regurgitates food for them. The nymphs will disperse when they are large enough to fend for themselves. Dartmoor, Devon
Cofnod #RecordOfTheWeek is this Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) spotted by KevinH at Cwrt. One of several Butterfly species reported in the warm weather a few days ago. @sewbrec.org.uk @wwbic1.bsky.social @bispowys.bsky.social
Wyn sent us this fab image of Closterium lunula (big one in the middle) surrounded by C. cf intermedium. Desmids from a water sample near Bod Petryal. @sewbrec.org.uk @wwbic1.bsky.social @bispowys.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social @northwaleswt.bsky.social
Spotted in Liverpool – a Hummingbird Hawk moth!
Recorded by David Costello on 27th February outside the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Hummingbird Hawk moths are typically seen between May & Oct, so encountering one in late winter this far north is unusual.
Cofnod 20th anniversary tea towels have arrived, featuring a selection of iconic species which live in North Wales. Everybody will want to 'do the drying up' now! @sewbrec.org.uk @bispowys.bsky.social @wwbic1.bsky.social @northwaleswt.bsky.social
What is Pan-Species Listing (PSL)?
A challenge to record every UK species you’ve seen in your lifetime – across ALL wildlife groups. It’s holistic, flexible & grows with your skills.
Join our FREE entoLIVE with Graeme Lyons on 13 May to learn more.
Sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1977266072...
Good to find Roncus lubricus in numbers yesterday (sieving Pine litter). Not many Welsh records. This updates the most northerly UK hectad record from 1995 and is a new site record. @pseudoliam.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social
LCES Spring Meeting 🦋
Talks include - The Highs and Lows of Looking for Rare Spiders in Lancashire, Kickstarting Nature Conservation with Wetlands, Jamaican Pleistocene Millipedes, Macrophotography on a budget & Introducing the Bolton Museum Insect Collections www.tickettailor.com/events/tanyp...
Reminder that the deadline to apply for this great role as BSBI Wales Officer is midnight on Monday 23 February.
Interested?
Apply here:
bsbi.org/about/people...
Sounds good but not for you?
Please share this post and help us spread the word!
Cofnod #RecordOfTheWeek is this Box Rust (Puccinia buxi) 📦🔩 recorded on the Cofnod ORS by TonyC at Bodelwyddan. Great 📷 evidence provided to support the record too 👍
#recordoftheweek #cofnodyrwythnos is Trochulus hispidus the Hairy Snail recorded at Sandbanks, Carmarthenshire by Emily Ivens 📸 🐌
Thank you for sharing your records and photos.
#molluscs #snail #carmarthenshirenature #wwbic #westwales #biodiversity
#RecordOfTheWeek today is a lovely Hermit Crab (Pagurus bernhardus) spotted at Worm's Head, Gower by Martin Bell.
Many thanks for the record and photo, submitted via the LERC Wales App www.sewbrec.org.uk/recording/app.
#Turnstone feeding on a Rayed Trough Shell at Gronant Beach yesterday. Hundreds of these shellfish had been washed up along the tideline providing a great seafood buffet for at least nine Turnstones. @birdsinwales.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk #birdingWales
Hope it's "in line" with other SW records! Recording Connect Four or Blockbusters? 🤔 @britishspiders.bsky.social
Also known as 'Brân Coesgoch' in Welsh (literally translates as red-legged crow 💚
www.northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-exp...
It's the annual Isle of #Anglesey Chough Count on Saturday 14 February 🐦⬛
If you see any #Chough on Anglesey tomorrow please let me know
@rhunapiorwerth.bsky.social Sennedd Species Champion
@cofnod.org.uk
@angbirdnews.bsky.social
@rspbcymru.bsky.social
#recordoftheweek #cofnodyrwythnos is Clytus arietis, the wasp beetle. Found and recorded in Cross Inn, Ceredigion by Stella C. 📸who sent us the record through Facebook messenger.
#pollinators #springwatch #recording #winterwatch #naturceredigion #wildlifephotography #westwales #ceredigion
Could you become BSBI's new Wales Officer, helping support the network of botanists across Wales & leading our Priority Plants in Wales Project?
You'd be helping to conserve rare & beautiful wild plants, like this lovely Radnor Lily.
For more details & how to apply, visit:
bsbi.org/about/people...
Cofnod #RecordOfTheWeek is this Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) seen at Aberffraw by DonnaG and recorded using the Cofnod ORS. @sewbrec.org.uk @wwbic1.bsky.social @bispowys.bsky.social @rspbcymru.bsky.social
Gwna wahaniaeth!
Ymuna â thîm deinamig y Rhaglen Fawndiroedd, yn anelu am #NaturUwchCarbonIs
Danfon dy gais erbyn 1/3/26!
£41K i dros £44K
Mae’r 3 swydd yn gofyn am sgiliau llafar Cymraeg
Manylion y swydd:
swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/vacancyinfor...
@natreswales.bsky.social
#swyddi #SwyddiCymraeg
Gosh the #Frogspawn is early in my pond this year. Last two year's I've not seen it until 3 March, yet here it is on 12 February.
A lovely big healthy clump, though rather close to the edge where Corvids are likely to hunt.
#SpawnSurvey
Make a difference!
Join the dynamic and successful NPAP team, aiming for #HighNatureLowCarbon
Submit by 1/3/26
£41K to over £44K
swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/vacancyinfor....
Welsh verbal skills required to deal with our valued partners.
@natreswales.bsky.social
#GreenJobs #jobs #Wales #environment
Yes, go for it.
The Horrid Ground Weaver Nothophantes horridus is thought to be the only spider endemic to Britain and is considered Critically Endangered both here and globally. It's restricted to limestone areas around Plymouth. Image thanks to John Walters via a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
The semi-aquatic Fen Raft Spider Dolomedes plantarius, one of our largest spider species, is considered Vulnerable to Extinction both globally and in GB because its already fragmented and scarce habitat is severely threatened by climate change. In GB, the number of sustainable populations has been increased by conservation translocations. Image copyright: Helen Smith
Last chance to see? It's the IUCN's Reverse the Red Day when we focus on ensuring that Red Listed Species -those at risk of extinction- have a more secure future. Globally, two GB species are Red Listed (see ALT tags) but many more are Red Listed in a GB context - follow our 🧵... #spiders
The ant hunting Five-spotted Ground Spider Callilepis nocturna is confined to just three sites and is considered Vulnerable to extinction in Britain. Image copyright: Richard Gallon.
The magnificent Western Ground Spider Gnaphosa occidentalis is restricted to a handful of coastal cliffs in Cornwall and considered Vulnerable to extinction in Britain. Image copyright: Tylan Berry
The Jumping spider Euophrys herbigrada is restricted to short coastal and cliff top grassland on the south coast and is Vulnerable to extinction. Image copyright: Tylan Berry
The Sac spider Porrhoclubiona genevensis is confined to maritime grassland and cliffs at the very western extremities of England and Wales. It's considered Near Threatened on the British Red List. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
As a final example a rare habitat with a unique set of spiders, many of them threatened, coast cliff top grasslands are being lost to encroaching scrub, invasive non-native plants and tourism pressures. #RedList assessments for species like these are essential first steps in their conservation.
The Sand Running Crab Spider Rhysodromus fallax must be one of the best camouflaged species in Britain. Confined to the seaward edges of sand dune it's considered Vulnerable to extinction. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
The Money spider Baryphyma martimum is restricted to the sand coasts of East Anglia, with just one record on the west coast. Although not in one of the 'threatened' categories on the British Red List, it's considered 'Near Threatened'. Image copyright: Richard Gallon.
Coastal and inland sand dunes (for example in the Brecks of East Anglia) have long been under pressure from tourism, development and aggregate extraction. On the coast, the increasing pace of sea level rise, coastal erosion and realignment projects add to these threats.
The Money spider Eriogone welchi occurs at altitude in very wet Sphagnum moss lawns: it is Red Listed as Endangered. Image copyright: Richard Gallon.
Another Money Spider, Maro lepidus, is also restricted to extremely wet, Sphagnum filled pools and is lost if the peat dries. It's Red Listed as Endangered. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
Minicia marginella, another tiny Money Spider, was classified as 'data deficient' because so little was known about it when the last GB Red List was complied. Now, we know that it's another characteristic species of upland mires with an extremely restricted distribution. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
Few upland peat mires remain undamaged by human activity, including afforestation and burning. The, often very small, areas that remain intact are home to some highly specialist spider species
The Marsh Wolf Spider Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata, restricted to a handful of fens in East Anglia and southern England, is currently Endangered but loss from known sites puts it as risk of becoming Critically Endangered. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
The tiny Jumping spider Neon valentulus is restricted to a few East Anglian fens where it particularly susceptible to climate change induced summer droughts. It's already Critically Endangered. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
The Money spider Baryphyma gowerense occurs in fens and occasionally salt-marshes in a very small number of sites in Norfolk and Wales. It is Vulnerable to extinction. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
In Britain, Rosser's Sac Spider Clubiona rosserae is known from only one East Anglian fen. It's currently considered Vulnerable to extinction. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
Britain's remaining alkaline fens are small, isolated fragments that are vulnerable to desiccation from drainage of surrounding agricultural land and climate change. Together with Globally Red Listed Fen Raft Spider, many of their specialist spider species are threatened:
In Britain the spiny-legged Lynx Spider Oxyopes heterophthalmus is now restricted to the Surrey heaths and is considered Vulnerable to extinction. Image copyright: Richard Gallon
Great Fox Spider Alopecosa fabrilis, restrited to one Surrey and one Dorset heathland site. Image Michael Hohner via Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
The Diamond-backed Spider Thanatus formicinus was last seen in its former southern heathland sites in 1969. Remarkably, it was rediscovered on heathland in Nottinghamshire in 2017; intensive efforts are underway to secure and increase its population. Image copyright: Richard Gallon.
Around 20% of Britain's 680 spider species are Red Listed. Most are restricted to habitats that are rare and themselves under threat. For example, around 80% of lowland heaths have been lost over the last 200 years, bringing many species dependent on them close to extinction. #ExtinctionCrisis
