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 front of the fire in the cafe. Instantly, we became friends with our shared love of wildlife. Initially our discussions focussed on the birds at Brockholes, but Mike encouraged me to widen my interest from birds into other faunal groups. Mike Foley (left) and Bill Gregory in one of the best areas for Mining Bees at Brockholes Brockholes Mining Bees In May 2014 I photographed my first m ..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 additions from Philip Brighton and Don Stenhouse, with Philip having used R to compare IRecord records with regional checklists to identify any Diptera species new to the area from the past year, and even went through the effort of writing up his findings in the format of the monthly notes. Don has also done the same for beetles he found at Borsdane woods on ..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. Beetles Bugs Flies Isopods Springtails Coleoptera (Beetles) Pteleobius vittatus (Curculionidae), Chester Zoo, VC58, Oct 2023, D. Bentley Udo Schmidt (CC BY-SA) 60 records in the UK according to NBN Atlas. A second record for the region (and VC58), having first been found in 1979. A very scattered distribution across England with few reports in the North. This species is oligophagou ..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. Beetles Bugs Flies Isopods Springtails Coleoptera (Beetles) Pteleobius vittatus (Curculionidae), Chester Zoo, VC58, Oct 2023, D. Bentley Udo Schmidt (CC BY-SA) 60 records in the UK according to NBN Atlas. A second record for the region (and VC58), having first been found in 1979. A very scattered distribution across England with few reports in the North. This species is oligophagou ..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. Bees Beetles Bugs Flies Spiders Grasshoppers and Crickets Wasps Dragonflies and Damselflies Molluscs Butterflies and Moths Millipedes Springtails Coleoptera (Beetles) Stenopterapion tenue (Apionidae), Crowtrees Farm, VC59, 03/09/2023, D. Bentley David Bentley (CCO) New to VC59, Stenopterapion tenue is largely found in the Midlands, southern England, and Wales. A known fee ..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. Bees Beetles Bugs Flies Spiders Grasshoppers and Crickets Wasps Dragonflies and Damselflies Molluscs Butterflies and Moths Millipedes Coleoptera (Beetles) Hypera arator (Curculionidae), Abbots Moss, Winsford, VC58, 03/11 + Burton Mere, Neston, VC58, 28/11, C. Washington Ryszard (CC BY-NC) – archive image 292 total records from NBN Atlas. Scattered records across the Midlands and So ..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. Bees Beetles Bugs Flies Spiders Grasshoppers and Crickets Wasps Dragonflies and Damselflies Centipedes Molluscs Coleoptera (Beetles)  Hydrochara caraboides (Hydrophilidae), Near Chester, Cheshire, VC58, 17/10 , D. Bentley David Bentley (CCO)David Bentley (CCO) Species listed as endangered in the red book of insects (Shirt, 1987), and only 160 NBN Atlas records. The majority of ..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. Bees Beetles Bugs Flies Spiders Grasshoppers and Crickets Wasps Dragonflies and Damselflies Centipedes Molluscs Coleoptera (Beetles)  Hydrochara caraboides (Hydrophilidae), Near Chester, Cheshire, VC58, 17/10 , D. Bentley David Bentley (CCO)David Bentley (CCO) Species listed as endangered in the red book of insects (Shirt, 1987), and only 160 NBN Atlas records. The majority of ..read more

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 58, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Bees Beetles Bugs Flies Spiders Grasshoppers and Crickets Wasps Dragonflies and Damselflies Centipedes Acari (Mites) Araneae (Spiders) Chilopoda (Centipedes) Coleoptera (Beetles) Rhinusa antirrhini (Curculionidae), Freshman’s Wood, Lancaster, VC58, 24/9, S. Garland Archive image – Mark Gurney – (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Appears to be the first VC60 record – based on Clive Washington’s regi ..read more

A selection of notable records reported to Tanyptera. Includes older, but newly recognised regional vice county records (dates blue). ‘The region’ = VC58, 58, 60 + Cheshire, Lancs, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. Bees Beetles Bugs Flies Spiders Grasshoppers and Crickets Wasps Dragonflies and Damselflies Centipedes Acari (Mites) Araneae (Spiders) Chilopoda (Centipedes) Coleoptera (Beetles) Rhinusa antirrhini (Curculionidae), Freshman’s Wood, Lancaster, VC58, 24/9, S. Garland Archive image – Mark Gurney – (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Appears to be the first VC60 record – based on Clive Washington’s regi ..read more