Swollen-thighed beetle
This metallic green beetle can be seen visiting flowers on sunny days in spring and summer.
This metallic green beetle can be seen visiting flowers on sunny days in spring and summer.
One of our most extensive habitats, moorlands cover huge areas in the uplands. Great expanses of unenclosed, wild-seeming land impart a sense of freedom and adventure, although the wide, open…
The common octopus is a highly intelligent, active predator. It even has a secret weapon - special glands produce a venom that it uses to incapacitate its prey!
Selfheal is a low-growing, creeping plant that likes the short turf of grasslands, roadside verges or even lawns. Its clusters of violet flowers appear in summer.
The soft, downy look of Yorkshire-fog makes it an attractive plant, even if it is considered a weed of cultivated land! It is also attractive to the caterpillars of the Small Skipper butterfly as…
The male purple emperor is a stunning butterfly with a brilliant purple sheen. Look for it feeding around the treetops in woodlands, or on damp ground, animal droppings or even carrion in the…
The Ringlet gets its name from the small rings on the undersides of its wings. These rings show variation in the different forms of this species, even elongating into a teardrop shape.
The speckled wood prefers the dappled sunlight of woodland rides and edges, hedgerows and even gardens. Despite declines, its range has spread over recent years.
This sooty-black, day-flying moth is active on sunny days, rarely settling in one place for long.
A voracious predator that will even eat other dragonflies, the golden-ringed dragonfly is the UK's longest species. It can be found around acidic streams in moorland and heathland habitats.…
It might surprise you, but even the smallest of gardens can accommodate a tree!
The black-headed gull is actually a chocolate-brown headed gull! And for much of the year, it's head even turns white. Look out for it in large, noisy flocks on a variety of habitats.