Last year during a Tanyptera Project recording day on the Hightown dunes between Formby and Crosby I caught a bristly black fly which on examination under the microscope turned out to be a species new… Read more »

The Complete Diptera of Lancashire and Cheshire by Phil Brighton is now available online via the Lancashire and Cheshire Fauna Society and North West Invertebrates. Updated to the end of 2025, this landmark work provides… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to us or found on iRecord. Includes older, but newly recognised vice county records. ‘The region’ is VC58, 59, 60 plus Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are… Read more »

Many of the 29 species of robberflies (Asilidae) known to occur in Britain and Ireland show a preference for dry, well-drained soils, coastal dunes being a favoured habitat (Falk et al., 2026). Smith & Kinsella… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

Vane trapping was carried out by the Tanyptera Project on two sites, Leighton Hall and Hyning Priory, in the Morecambe Bay area of North Lancashire (VC60) during spring and summer 2025, primarily targeting saproxylic insects…. Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

  Anabolia brevipennis is a Nationally Rare and Vulnerable UK caddisfly. Its distribution is restricted, with most records concentrated in north-west England, where it is typically found in pools within Fen Carr Woodland. There are… Read more »

Earlier this month, BBC’s Antiques Road Trip shone a spotlight on one of the North West’s most remarkable naturalists – Nora Fisher McMillan MBE – whose contributions to conchology (the study of mollusc shells) have… Read more »

The Sefton Coast received its first-ever confirmed sighting of the non-native, invasive Asian or Yellow-legged Hornet (Vespa velutina) on 1st November 2025, after a single adult was photographed and reported from Crosby by Pete Kinsella…. Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

In the latter part of the 19th century the goal among lepidopterists was to achieve full coverage of British species in your cabinet.  If you had plenty of money you could buy from dealers but… Read more »

The City Wildflower Meadow at Liverpool’s World Museum has become a vibrant haven for pollinators in the heart of the city. Thanks to casual surveys conducted by the Cheshire Bee Group in 2023 and 2025,… Read more »

The Sefton Coast received its first-ever confirmed sighting of the non-native, invasive Asian or Yellow-legged Hornet (Vespa velutina) on 1st November 2025, after a single adult was photographed and reported from Crosby by Pete Kinsella…. Read more »

On the night of 11th October 2025, Richard Walker’s Formby National Trust moth trap caught a single adult of the distinctive Noctuid moth, L‑Album Wainscot (Mythimna l‑album). To the best of our knowledge, this is… Read more »

  Amateur recorders and citizen scientists are the backbone of invertebrate recording across the UK (and beyond). We often venture into meadows, woodlands, gardens and marshes, armed with nets, traps, pots — and passion. Yet… Read more »

On 25th July 2025, a vacuum sample taken by Richard Gallon from deep within the sedge beds at Bagmere (SJ79656437) (a Cheshire Wildlife Trust reserve) produced no fewer than seven females of Entelecara omissa. This… Read more »

The Clifton Nonpareil Catocala fraxini is one of the UK’s largest and most striking moths, famous for the violet-blue bands on its hindwings. Once widespread in southern Britain, the species became extinct nationally during the… Read more »

  Declaration Issued to Halt UK Insect Declines as Evidence Mounts of National Crisis The declaration, proposed by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, and supported by over 50 signatories, urges governments, land managers,… Read more »

On the evening of the 19/05/2025, about an hour before dark, I visited St Andrews Church, Tarvin SJ491669. I beat the yews and other evergreen trees along with a few shrubs and hedges until it… Read more »

This species can often be found in churchyards, cemeteries, parks and around the edges of council estates, being collected from its webs located on gravestones, in the corners of structures, metal railings and beaten from… Read more »

I walk my bichon frise three times a day around the adjacent Mount Pleasant Estate on the west side of Winsford, which is a 1980’s council estate and Liverpool overspill. On the night walks I… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

Having collected Erigone aletris by beating shrubs around a fairly open cemetery, I thought that Winsford’s Mount Pleasant council estate with its recreation areas and tree planted screening (planted in the 1970’s) between the estate… Read more »

On another trip (04/07/25) to record Philodromus collinus and Philodromus albidus in a further hectad I chose to visit Witton Cemetery, Northwich (SJ665737) and beat for these arboreal species. Two female P. albidus were found… Read more »

Cheshire is full of oak trees and on the 02/07/25 I finally beat the right one. It was at Swanlow Park Cemetery SJ651640, when a female Araneus triguttatus was beaten from the lower branches of… Read more »

On the 09/06/25 I visited Middlewich Cemetery SJ698665 to beat trees and bushes for Philodromus collinus and Philodromus albidus, with both proving to be relatively frequent on the evergreen shrubs and trees. Whilst beating the bottom… Read more »

On 23rd May 2025, at a Tanyptera recording day at Hightown Dunes on the Sefton Coast, a surprising discovery was made: Phorbia penicillaris, a fly never before recorded in Britain. The find was amongst 74… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

Over the past few months I have been visiting churches across Cheshire at night, looking by torchlight for and collecting spiders and woodlice. The target species were Megalepthyphantes sp near collinus and Cryptachaea blattea. With… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

In Spring and Summer 2024, The Tanyptera Project carried out a saproxylic invertebrate survey using vane traps on mature trees in Knowsley Park, park of the Knowsley estate near Prescot, Merseyside. This site encompasses an… Read more »

Combermere Park is set in the privately owned 450 ha Combermere Abbey estate on the Cheshire/Shropshire border, established almost 900 years ago. Away from the abbey, estate buildings and formal gardens, the area includes extensive… Read more »

On the 25/02/25 I visited St Mary’s Church, Wistaston (SJ681536) by torchlight to collect spiders, harvestmen and woodlice. Amongst a reasonable catch of eleven species of spider was a subadult female Ero aphana. Due to… Read more »

On the 28/01/2025 I visited the churchyard of Christ Church in Winsford, SJ663665, late in the afternoon. I found very few specimens present with the most productive areas of search being the churches sewer and… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A single adult male of the the Nationally Scarce Theridiid Robertus neglectus was found via vacuum sampling in Woolston Eyes SSSI, Warrington on 3rd August 2024 during a Tanyptera Project recording day. The author found… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos are copyright… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. All photos copyright of… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Coleoptera (Beetles) Oligota granaria… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Coleoptera (Beetles) Oxyporus rufus… Read more »

On 2nd June 2024 noticed a Rhagionid fly perched on a leaf in my garden.  It was obviously a species of Chrysopilus, but had patterned wings, which is unusual.  Using Stubbs & Drake and a… Read more »

The all black adults Notidobia ciliaris of were resting on plants at the very edge of the Llangollen branch canal at Acton on the afternoon of May 4th 2024. This caddis probably spread north into… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognized regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Coleoptera (Beetles) Stenichnus subseriatus… Read more »

I first met Mike on the famous floating visitor village at Brockholes Lancashire Wildlife Trust Reserve soon after it opened in 2011. Along with his friend, the late Bill Gregory, they ‘owned‘ the chairs in… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. This month’s notes feature… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Pteleobius vittatus (Curculionidae), Chester… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Coleoptera (Beetles) Otiorhynchus armadillo… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Stenopterapion tenue (Apionidae), Crowtrees… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Acari (Mites) Piona carnea… Read more »

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 59, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester.  Hydrochara caraboides (Hydrophilidae), Near… Read more »

Acari (Mites) Rhinusa antirrhini (Curculionidae), Freshman’s Wood, Lancaster, VC58, 24/9, S. Garland Tribolium castaneum (Tenebrionidae), Pickmere, VC58, 24/9, C. Washington Leiodes rufipennis (Leiodidae), Formby, VC59, 21/9, C. Washington Hylastes angustatus (Curculionidae), Thelwell, Warrington, VC58, 17/9,… Read more »

Acari (Mites) Platyrhinus resinosus (Curculionidae), Thorn Wood, Weaverham, VC58, 2/8, C. Washington Musk Beetle Aromia moschata (Cerambycidae) Hightown Dunes, VC59, 16/8, P. Kinsella Blundellsands, VC59, 24/8, P. Kinsella Collembola (Springtails) Diplopoda (Millipedes) Pipiza austriaca (Syrphidae),… Read more »

Acari (Mites) Hadroplontus trimaculatus (Curculionidae), Northwich, VC58, 16/7, C. Washington Musk Beetle Aromia moschata (Cerambycidae), Freshfield Dune Heath, VC59, July, A. Hampson. Ontholestes murinus (Staphylinidae), Ribble Estuary NNR, VC59, 27/7, C. Washington. Brundinia marina (Staphylinidae),… Read more »

On 2nd July 2023, I found a female Mallota cimbiciformis feeding on bramble flowers at Ainsdale NNR, Merseyside. The sighting represents the first record for Merseyside and the Sefton Coast. There are just a few… Read more »

Acari (Mites) Steneotarsonemus phragmitidis (Tarsonemidae), Burton Mere, Wirral, VC58, 28/6, S.J. McWilliam. Appears to be a new record for VC58 and the region Mite gall causer on common reed. 11 records currently on NBN Atlas,… Read more »

In 2019 my wife and I discovered that Gordale Garden Centre in mid Wirral (SJ3375) had a population of the Garden Centre Spider Uloborus plumipes Lucas and we have enjoyed seeing it there on our… Read more »

Liophloeus tessulatus  (Curculionidae), Alt bridge, VC59, P.Smith Only second record for Sefton coast Previous record also from the same area Diverse habitat from “meadows to mountains”, feeding on a range of common wild plants such… Read more »

Bruchidius varius (Chrysomelidae), Diggle, Saddleworth, Greater Manchester, VC58/63 18/4, K. Gartside. Found at a high altitude, possibly 900ft asl One of only 3 records from the region but widespread in Southern England. Associated with flowers,… Read more »

Cryptops parisi (Cryptopidae), Nether Kellet, VC60, 5/3, N. Garnham. Probably the first VC60 and regional record. A non-native, naturalised species. Most UK records are from SW Wales. Found in bag of horse manure. Can be… Read more »

Collembola (Springtails) Bilobella braunerae (Neanuridae), Brabyns Park, Marple, VC58, 20/2, R. Atherton. Confirmed by Peter Shaw. Appears new to VC58 and the NW region. c.40 spotted under a small area of bark on a fallen… Read more »

Rhagium inquisitor (Cerambycidae), Ellesmere Port, VC58, 26/1, M. Bennett. Possibly a first record for Cheshire and the region. An adventive found in Sawmill. The natural species range is restricted to Central Scotland in the UK…. Read more »

The Marine Gardens at Crosby, Merseyside (SJ315980) comprise four walled ornamental public gardens, running from south to north and situated along the south-eastern perimeter of Crosby Marine Park. The gardens cover 4.86 hectares and total… Read more »

Orchesia micans (Melandryidae), Moore Nature Reserve, VC58, 27/12, C. Washington. A saproxylic. Previously known in Cheshire from well established sites (Oakmere, Styal, Wybunbury, Lyme Park etc). Occurrence at his relatively recently regenerated site, suggests Orchesia… Read more »

While checking a south-facing fence at Wick’s Path, Formby Point on 4th November 2022, I spotted an insect I didn’t recognise. It was about 9 mm long, rounded and greyish, with a prominent net-like pattern… Read more »

Southern Oak Bush-cricket Meconema meridionale is a pale green bush-cricket with a creamy-yellow dorsal stripe and two reddish spots on top of the pro-thorax. The female has a long, slightly upturned ovipositor, while the male… Read more »

Despite the occasional excessive heat and drought-like conditions during the Summer, 2022 proved to be an excellent year for me in the field. I recorded my highest yearly total of Syphidae species on the Sefton… Read more »

Oxypoda induta (Staphylinidae), Woolston Eyes, VC58, 1/11, C. Washington. Possible first VC58 record. Found in Phragmites litter. 26 scattered records on NBN Atlas from England, including 2 from Merseyside. Myrmecocephalus concinnus (Staphylinidae), Jacksons Brickworks LNR… Read more »

Strigamia maritima (Linotaeniidae), Heysham Head, VC60, October, N. Garnham. Found only at the top of the shore, around the High-Water Spring stand line on the seaward side of the shingle bank. Although generally common around… Read more »

On 31st August 2018, Steve Garland collected a solitary bee at North Walney NNR, Cumbria that he identified as Colletes halophilus (Sea Aster Colletes). This was an extraordinary find, as most of the world population… Read more »

Geophilus insculptus (Geophilidae), Elton Goit, VC59, 17/9, D. Bentley. New to Greater Manchester according to searchable data sources. Can be found under stones etc. in the upper layer of soil in a variety of habitats…. Read more »

Aphodius zenkeri (Scarabaeidae), Dunham Massey, VC58, 1/8, C. Washington. A woodland favouring dung beetle that may be at the limit of it’s current NW range in Britain but has been known from Dunham for over… Read more »

Between 21st May – 30th July 2021, 5 adult females of the brown lacewing S. klapaleki (image below) were caught in two vane traps placed on veteran oaks growing in open parkland 150 metres apart… Read more »

A total of three female W. balticus were found during hand searching amongst dense marram (image below), on semi fixed dunes at Formby National Trust, Merseyside (Image below) on 26th May and 8th June 2021…. Read more »

Araneae (Spiders) Leviellus stroemi (Araneae), M, Combermere Park, VC58, May & June 2022, Col. G. Hedges. Det. T. Hunter. New to VC58 and the region. Nationally Rare and Near Threatened. The most recent UK record… Read more »

Entomology, particularly in the past, has been a field dominated by men, and for some the word ‘Entomologist’ itself conjures an image of an eccentric bearded gentlemen armed with a butterfly net. There are, of… Read more »

  Conops strigatus (Dark-cheeked Beegrabber) (Fig. 1) is a scarce insect in Britain with scattered records as far north as Cumbria and hardly any for Central England. Only 78 records are shown on the NBN… Read more »

  The Beewolf (Philanthus triangulum) is a spectacular looking wasp that was once regarded a great rarity in Britain. In the 1990’s, the status of the species in Britain was considered to be Vulnerable, but it… Read more »

  On the late afternoon of 6th September 2021, I was searching for insects along the frontal dunes at Hightown, Merseyside. It was very warm and sunny and there were plenty about. As I scanned… Read more »

Anacampsis temerella is a rarely recorded, inconspicuous member of the Gelechiidae family, with a mainly coastal distribution and a Nationally Notable A conservation status (Figure 1). It is usually found as a larva in spinnings… Read more »

  Following on from the discovery of the Pine Hoverfly, Callicera rufa, at Formby in 2020 (see article), I visited that site on several occasions during May 2021, but failed to find it again. The… Read more »

On a visit to Hightown dunes on 10th April 2021, I found the Tachinid fly, Gonia ornata, a species apparently not recorded on the Sefton coast for thirty years. I had already seen Gonia picea… Read more »

During a National Museums Liverpool survey of parasitic wasps at Formby National Trust (VC59) on 29th September 2020, a female ichneumon resembling Ctenochira haemosterna was swept from the edge of a small mixed woodland with… Read more »

Although summer is often seen as peak time for entomology, many groups can be collected all year round if suitable techniques are used. This is particularly the case for beetles, as many species overwinter as… Read more »

Introduction Smith & Kinsella (2020) reported on six robberflies (Asilidae) they had recorded and photographed in the Sefton Coast sand-dune system, suggesting that four more species might be discovered through field survey, namely Dioctria atricapilla,… Read more »

My job revolves around protected sites and whilst I fully appreciate the invertebrate wonders to be found on nature reserves and sites of special scientific interest, since reading Ken Thompson’s ‘No Nettles Required’ well over… Read more »