Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
@entomophily.bsky.social
Cameraman and photographer now retired and using my skills to share a passion for wildlife and conservation with a bias towards insects and urban green spaces. Also aspiring music maker and soundscape creator. Home is Falmouth, Cornwall.
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
New study confirms that short wavelength light (UV & blue) attracts the most nocturnal insects & that intensity increases attraction for all colours. Longer wavelength & lower intensity outdoor lights should reduce biodiversity impacts resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #teammoth 🌍
November 26, 2025 at 2:08 PM
New study confirms that short wavelength light (UV & blue) attracts the most nocturnal insects & that intensity increases attraction for all colours. Longer wavelength & lower intensity outdoor lights should reduce biodiversity impacts resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #teammoth 🌍
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I am absolutely thrilled to share my first chapter, published today in @jappliedecology.bsky.social! Results are summarised in the thread below, or you can read it OA here doi.org/10.1111/1365... @ellileadbeater.bsky.social @rhulbiology.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social @ucl-pnl.bsky.social 1/7 🧪
Resource supplementation later in the colony cycle improves real‐world bumblebee colony survival
Our findings suggest that B. terrestris colonies became food-limited towards the end of their colony cycle in early summer. We suggest ecological intensification through planting native wildflower sp....
doi.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I am absolutely thrilled to share my first chapter, published today in @jappliedecology.bsky.social! Results are summarised in the thread below, or you can read it OA here doi.org/10.1111/1365... @ellileadbeater.bsky.social @rhulbiology.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social @ucl-pnl.bsky.social 1/7 🧪
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Watching Labour MPs take a wrecking ball to nature makes me so angry & so sad. Their action tonight voting down amendments to the #PlanningBill intended to protect wildlife & habitats from destruction is so reckless & so counterproductive. People didn’t vote Labour for this 👇
Housing secretary tells Labour MPs to vote down planning bill amendment
Amendment restricts protection for animals to allow faster house building
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Watching Labour MPs take a wrecking ball to nature makes me so angry & so sad. Their action tonight voting down amendments to the #PlanningBill intended to protect wildlife & habitats from destruction is so reckless & so counterproductive. People didn’t vote Labour for this 👇
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Mahonia attracting queen buff-tailed bumblebee yesterday in Totnes, south Devon. @bumblebees
October 27, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Mahonia attracting queen buff-tailed bumblebee yesterday in Totnes, south Devon. @bumblebees
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
her highness sleeps
Ammophila wasp on brittlebush (Encelia) distal twigs at night
take a close look ... she is SPECTACULAR!
Ammophila wasp on brittlebush (Encelia) distal twigs at night
take a close look ... she is SPECTACULAR!
October 27, 2025 at 3:06 PM
her highness sleeps
Ammophila wasp on brittlebush (Encelia) distal twigs at night
take a close look ... she is SPECTACULAR!
Ammophila wasp on brittlebush (Encelia) distal twigs at night
take a close look ... she is SPECTACULAR!
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Precious moment in the fleeting Wivenhoe sun this morning of a pair of German Wasps snatching an intimate moment... Really brought home the size difference. This is peak wasp mating time, with the male destined to die soon; the newly mated queens being the only ones to overwinter #criticalmoment
October 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Precious moment in the fleeting Wivenhoe sun this morning of a pair of German Wasps snatching an intimate moment... Really brought home the size difference. This is peak wasp mating time, with the male destined to die soon; the newly mated queens being the only ones to overwinter #criticalmoment
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Female of Mellinus arvensis (Field Digger Wasp) on Tunbridge Wells Common today - the most late-flying of the solitary wasps
October 5, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Female of Mellinus arvensis (Field Digger Wasp) on Tunbridge Wells Common today - the most late-flying of the solitary wasps
A Cornwall councillor was silenced in the chamber at Lys Kernow / County Hall this week when he attempted to ask the Liberal Democrat / Independent administration about Cornwall's most infamous trees.
#cornwall #kernow #scandal
www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/2547983...
#cornwall #kernow #scandal
www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/2547983...
Councillor silenced in chamber over trees that appear to 'threaten the nation'
Cllr Dean Evans wryly stated that the Trelawney trees in Falmouth were nothing special until a few months ago “when they appeared to threaten the…
www.falmouthpacket.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 11:36 AM
A Cornwall councillor was silenced in the chamber at Lys Kernow / County Hall this week when he attempted to ask the Liberal Democrat / Independent administration about Cornwall's most infamous trees.
#cornwall #kernow #scandal
www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/2547983...
#cornwall #kernow #scandal
www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/2547983...
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
My final #seedheads for this week's #wildflowerhour challenge...Bird's-foot Trefoil, named after the shape and arrangement of the seedpods.
September 7, 2025 at 7:48 PM
My final #seedheads for this week's #wildflowerhour challenge...Bird's-foot Trefoil, named after the shape and arrangement of the seedpods.
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
If you want to identify, well, anything, I recommend this post from @weevil-see.bsky.social. His choice of weevils to illustrate it is of course excellent, but it applies to everything from mushrooms to marsupials. This is how you can be a good identifier of things.
[Link contains spider]
[Link contains spider]
I started a blog and my first post is online!
The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think!
weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...
The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think!
weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...
Species Identifications: Common Pitfalls
Some thoughts about Identifications. How do we identify properly? How do we avoid mistakes?
weevil-see.github.io
September 2, 2025 at 7:10 PM
If you want to identify, well, anything, I recommend this post from @weevil-see.bsky.social. His choice of weevils to illustrate it is of course excellent, but it applies to everything from mushrooms to marsupials. This is how you can be a good identifier of things.
[Link contains spider]
[Link contains spider]
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Callicera spinolae, the Ivy Hoverfly, is one of the UK's rarest hoverflies, as well as one of the most spectacular.
This morning, I recorded a female on the Ivy in my S. Cambridgeshire. This is the 5th consecutive year that I have seen this wonderful fly in my garden, four days earlier than before.
This morning, I recorded a female on the Ivy in my S. Cambridgeshire. This is the 5th consecutive year that I have seen this wonderful fly in my garden, four days earlier than before.
September 5, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Callicera spinolae, the Ivy Hoverfly, is one of the UK's rarest hoverflies, as well as one of the most spectacular.
This morning, I recorded a female on the Ivy in my S. Cambridgeshire. This is the 5th consecutive year that I have seen this wonderful fly in my garden, four days earlier than before.
This morning, I recorded a female on the Ivy in my S. Cambridgeshire. This is the 5th consecutive year that I have seen this wonderful fly in my garden, four days earlier than before.
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
There are over 18,000 types of lichen in existence. My personal favourite is ‘village bench lichen’, which devotes its entire existence selflessly to gradually making communal public seating more furry and comfortable.
August 31, 2025 at 12:33 PM
There are over 18,000 types of lichen in existence. My personal favourite is ‘village bench lichen’, which devotes its entire existence selflessly to gradually making communal public seating more furry and comfortable.
Iberian harvester ants (Messor ibericus) rely on hardy workers that are hybrids of their own species and another one, Messor structor. But the queens don’t bother keeping any M. structor males around: they make their own.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother
Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.
www.nature.com
September 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Iberian harvester ants (Messor ibericus) rely on hardy workers that are hybrids of their own species and another one, Messor structor. But the queens don’t bother keeping any M. structor males around: they make their own.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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📣 New research, including @savebutterflies.bsky.social #citizenscience data, shows winners & losers across >1200 insect species in Britain since 1990. Urbanisation identified as major driver of decline for moths, ladybirds & hoverflies www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌍 🦋🐞🦗🪲🐝
September 3, 2025 at 4:44 PM
📣 New research, including @savebutterflies.bsky.social #citizenscience data, shows winners & losers across >1200 insect species in Britain since 1990. Urbanisation identified as major driver of decline for moths, ladybirds & hoverflies www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌍 🦋🐞🦗🪲🐝
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
I revisited the Euura miliaris sawfly larva earlier today to find an ichneumon wasp working its way around them despite their efforts to defend themselves. Amazing how it holds its wings up to avoid being clobbered!
August 29, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I revisited the Euura miliaris sawfly larva earlier today to find an ichneumon wasp working its way around them despite their efforts to defend themselves. Amazing how it holds its wings up to avoid being clobbered!
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), on my garden Buddleja this morning. St. Mellion, SE Cornwall.
August 24, 2025 at 10:01 AM
American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), on my garden Buddleja this morning. St. Mellion, SE Cornwall.
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Plenty of Argiope bruennichi females in the wildflower meadow in Eaton park, Norwich. The meadow is suffering in the drought with short vegetation and most spiders are relatively small compared to those on other sites I've seen this year. Only one web with prey - a Bee Wolf! Formidable! #arachnids
August 20, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Plenty of Argiope bruennichi females in the wildflower meadow in Eaton park, Norwich. The meadow is suffering in the drought with short vegetation and most spiders are relatively small compared to those on other sites I've seen this year. Only one web with prey - a Bee Wolf! Formidable! #arachnids
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Just spent a fun 10 mins watching this ichneumon #wasp on our bay tree. Looks like he/she was looking for something to eat, which surprised me as I thought the adults usually ate pollen & nectar
Please can anyone tell me which #ichneumon species this is? Do you know, please @kitenet.bsky.social?
Please can anyone tell me which #ichneumon species this is? Do you know, please @kitenet.bsky.social?
August 20, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Just spent a fun 10 mins watching this ichneumon #wasp on our bay tree. Looks like he/she was looking for something to eat, which surprised me as I thought the adults usually ate pollen & nectar
Please can anyone tell me which #ichneumon species this is? Do you know, please @kitenet.bsky.social?
Please can anyone tell me which #ichneumon species this is? Do you know, please @kitenet.bsky.social?
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
Female mason wasp Ancistrocerus scoticus building mud cells in relief carving on gravestone in St Agnes churchyard, Scilly
July 31, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Female mason wasp Ancistrocerus scoticus building mud cells in relief carving on gravestone in St Agnes churchyard, Scilly
Hi Ian, @ianbeavis.bsky.social I spotted this bumblebee in Falmouth cemetery yesterday. The reddish hairs on the tip of its abdomen were clearly visible but not that obvious in the photo from my mobile. What are your thoughts on it being a male Bombus sylvestris? I can only find pre-1970 records
July 20, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Hi Ian, @ianbeavis.bsky.social I spotted this bumblebee in Falmouth cemetery yesterday. The reddish hairs on the tip of its abdomen were clearly visible but not that obvious in the photo from my mobile. What are your thoughts on it being a male Bombus sylvestris? I can only find pre-1970 records
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Now is a great time to harvest your own field scabious seed before it drops! Collect and sow in a seed tray slightly covered & keep moist. You will have seedlings in 2-3 weeks. Fresh seed is very viable so you won’t need much!
July 18, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Now is a great time to harvest your own field scabious seed before it drops! Collect and sow in a seed tray slightly covered & keep moist. You will have seedlings in 2-3 weeks. Fresh seed is very viable so you won’t need much!
Reposted by Falmouth Nature & Pollinator Perfect
No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree.
youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU
youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU
No More Beewashing! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees.
YouTube video by Dave Goulson
youtu.be
July 17, 2025 at 3:04 PM
No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree.
youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU
youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU