Oldest Newest



Summer Leys

29th May 2026

We chose a sunny but not too hot day for a trip to Summer Leys Nature Reserve. The insect season was well and truly underway and there was lots to see

A tiny bright crimson red glossy beetle with long antennae the same colour is exploring a leaf.
A rather immaculate black and golden yellow Hoverfly is resting on what looks like a Holly leaf.
A Small Eggar Moth Caterpillar mostly a blueish black colour with black and crimson markings bordered with cream.
A Brown Argus Butterfly is at rest with unfolded wings which are mostly brown with small orange markings just inside the white fringed edges.
A dark golden brown and very fluffy Large Skipper Butterfly is feeding from a Thistle Flower.
A Speckled Wood Butterfly at rest with folded wings which are in various shades from cream to dark brown.
This is most likely a female Blue Tailed Damselfly with a delightful salmon pink thorax leading to a dark abdomen with the signature bright blue band towards the end.
Feeding on flower is a medium sized Hoverfly mostly yellow and bronze in colour with a darker abdomen which has yellow horizontal curved markings.
A Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle long and slender with pale yellow wing cases decorated with black markings getting larger towards the end.
A Brimstone Butterfly at rest with folded wings showing a fluffy white head and large wings in various shades of pale green and yellowish green.
A dark cream and brown Mayfly is resting vertically on a stem of grass.
Feeding on a Blackberry Flower is a rather hairy Small Heath Butterfly with folded wings whose abdomen is a greyish brown and the wings shades of brown and bright orange.
A Green Veined White Butterfly with folded wings is feeding from a Blackberry flower with the intricate pattern of darker veins standing out from the white undersides of its wings.
A Holly Blue Butterfly with folded wings showing the pale blue undersides speckled with small black markings.


We saw huge numbers of Soldier Beetles near the Car Park.Trying to identify which species of Soldier Beetle this is was quite tricky. We have settled on Cantharis livida as the colours on the legs is indicative of this species although it is missing the black spot on its head






Summer Leys

15th May 2026

We took a quick visit to Summer Leys Nature Reserve on a rather hot day which meant we kept our stroll down to a gentle potter near the Car Park. Nevertheless there was plenty to see:

A large hairy Lackey Moth Caterpillar whose body is a pale blue speckled with black and full length longitudinal stripes of black orange and white.
A Buttercup is hosting a slender metallic dark green Thick Legged Flower Beetle with his signature thick thighs on his hindmost legs.
An immature Azure Damselfly long and slender with a creamish coloured thorax and a blue abdomen both having the black markings of the species.
A hairy and colourful Lackey Moth Caterpillar is examining the seedhead of one of last years Teasels.
Two small yellow and black 14 Spot Ladybirds are mating on a large nettle leaf whilst also on the leaf is a large spider whose legs are just visible.
A pair of orange and black Soldier Beetles are mating on a curly nettle leaf.
A cluster of dark pink Red Campion flowers each with five deeply divided petals giving the appearance of ten.
A bright red Harlequin Ladybird with around twenty black spots and a white pronotum with black markings.
A small black Bee is covered in pale gray almost white hairs with a few narrow bands of similar coloured hairs across its abdomen.
A large colourful hairy Caterpillar is feeding on a leaf.


We spotted quite a few Lackey Moth Caterpillars, they really are quite spectacular!

A large hairy Lackey Moth Caterpillar whose body is a pale blue speckled with black and full length longitudinal stripes of black orange and white.





Abington Meadows

12th May 2026

Cycling past Abington Meadows Nature Reserve on quite an overcast day I decided to pop in and have a look around on my return journey. Fortunately I had a camera handy to take a couple of snaps.

A slender Mayfly is resting amongst the reeds.
A slender bodied Fine Streaked Bugkin with long reddish coloured legs and a black body adorned with multiple markings in yellow and orange.
A mature Blue Tailed Damselfly with black marked thorax and dark abdomen with distinctive blue end.
A bright red Cardinal Beetle with black legs and long black toothed antennae is exploring a broad blade of grass.
A pair of flowers of the Cuckooflower plant with each flower having four broad pale pinky lilac petals and pale green reproductive parts with yellow anthers.
A bright yellow Buttercup flower with 5 very broad petals and matching yellow stamens.
This female Anasimyia lineata is a medium sized quite broad Hoverfly in a pale browny cream colour with black longitudinal stripes on her thorax and intricate black markings on her abdomen.
Exploring a leaf is a bright red Harlequin Ladybird with multiple black spots on the elytra and a black W shape on the white pronotum.
A small bright red Two Spot Ladybird with an unsurprising total of two black spots on its elytra and white cheeks on its black pronotum.


I've not really looked for Mayflies this year, this is however the first one I have noticed

A slender Mayfly is resting amongst the reeds.