We hold free and heavily subsidised invertebrate workshops and webinars on identification, recording, curation and field craft to help boost the skills of beginners and experienced entomologists alike. These are complemented with drop-in sessions to facilitate mentoring and networking. We also run an invertebrate recording day programme to bring together the invertebrate recording community and facilitate improvements to baseline data coverage at selected important / under-recorded sites.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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September 2020
Calf Hill & Cragg Woods Invertebrate Recording Day
A general invertebrate recording day at Calf Hill & Cragg Woods SSSI. 'Calf Hill and Cragg Woods lies at an altitude of 150m, approximately 7 km east of Lancaster on the north western side of…
Find out more »Holiday Moss Invertebrate Recording Day
Holiday Moss is managed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust. It is a small site with a mosaic of peatland, woodland, fen and open water habitats which supports everything from brown hares and common lizards to black…
Find out more »Port Sunlight River Park Invertebrate Recording Day
Port Sunlight River Park, a former landfill site, is now a 28-hectare park which hosts a variety of habitats including semi-mature and young woodland, hedgerows, scrub, bramble/tall ruderal, mature reedbed, species-rich grassland, bare and rocky…
Find out more »Spiders in the Field Webinar
This webinar will cover: • An introduction to field ID and the rapid recent advances in spider field ID • Useful literature, especially the WildGuide which we will look at in detail • Field equipment…
Find out more »An Introduction to DNA Barcoding for Species Identification Webinar
Dr John Wilson, Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum Liverpool, will introduce the concept of using DNA barcodes for species identification, the lab work and materials involved, and some applications of DNA barcoding locally…
Find out more »Introduction to Water Beetles Webinar
Aquatic invertebrate specialists, Peter and Sharon Flint, will give an introduction to Water Beetle Identification. We will end with an interactive question and answer session. Tutor info: Sharon Flint has 20 years’ experience in identification…
Find out more »October 2020
Pond Invertebrates Webinar
Join Arron Watson (Freshwater Entomologist and Ecologist) to find out about the different invertebrates that are found in ponds. He will explore the pond surface where the bugs and others swim and glide, the middle…
Find out more »Introduction to Millipedes Webinar
Millipedes (Diplopoda) are an easily overlooked group of animals because of their secretive lifestyles in soil or under bark, but they are remarkably diverse and of great importance in the process of decomposition. There are…
Find out more »November 2020
Introduction to Stoneflies Webinar
Stoneflies are often overlooked inhabitants of freshwater, however they are a fascinating group of insects. Whilst some species are more at home in ditches, ponds and marshes, they are predominately found in clean, cold, fast…
Find out more »Sawflies Webinar
There are around 250 species of Sawfly in Britain, all of which have plant-feeding larvae. A few are garden pests but most feed as larvae on non cultivated plants. This webinar will include a talk…
Find out more »Where to Find Water Beetles. In the Water?
Over 400 beetle species are only found in or near water in Britain. Many species will not be found by traditional pond-dipping. We’ll review the possibilities using examples from all over the British Isles, but…
Find out more »Flesh Flies Webinar
Flesh Flies – with Daniel Whitmore, Charles Griffiths and Nigel Jones Join us to learn about the natural history, diversity and distribution of British Flesh Flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) and how to identify them, with Daniel…
Find out more »Dipterists Day
The Dipterists Forum's Dipterists Day includes an exciting line up of talks on recording, collecting and DNA sequencing and the implications for UK Diptera. Open to all, members & non-members. Click on the link below…
Find out more »Introduction to Hemiptera (True Bugs) Webinar
The true bugs (Hemiptera) are a large and diverse group of insects in Britain, comprising almost 2000 species. This webinar will provide an introduction to the British fauna, focussing on recognition of the various families…
Find out more »December 2020
Introduction to Beetles Webinar (Part 1)
During this two part webinar series you will learn what a beetle is and how to distinguish them from other insects. In part 1 you will learn about beetle anatomy and the key features needed…
Find out more »Introduction to Beetles Webinar (Part 2)
This is part 2 of a two part webinar series on an introduction to beetles. In part 2 we will look at a 3 or 4 more difficult to identify families for the keen beetle…
Find out more »Soldierflies & Allies Webinar
Some of the UK’s largest and most colourful insects can be found within the soldierflies and allies (the “allies” include robberflies, bee-flies, horseflies, snipefies and six other smaller families). Some are easy to find whereas…
Find out more »February 2021
Micro-moth field signs Webinar
Many micro-moth species can be recorded in the field without encountering the adult moths. Such field work involves using a variety of techniques to detect the early stages of the moths and can be performed…
Find out more »Nocturnal Ichneumonoid Wasps Webinar
Nocturnal Ichneumonoid Wasps Webinar with Gavin Broad. Several groups of parasitoid wasps are frequent and conspicuous visitors to light traps. However, species are difficult to identify and there remains much to discover. This webinar introduces…
Find out more »Centipedes Webinar
Centipedes (Chilopoda) are an intriguing group of animals that look superficially very similar, but in-fact there are over 50 species found in Britain. They are carnivorous and therefore a significant predator of a range of…
Find out more »