Turn over large stones or paving slabs in the garden and you are likely to find a red ant colony. This medium-sized ant can deliver a painful sting, so be careful! In summer, winged adults swarm…

The chocolate-brown, plump dipper can often be seen bobbing up and down on a stone in a fast-flowing river. It feeds on underwater insects by walking straight into, and under, the water.

The migrant hawker is not a particularly aggressive species, and may be seen feeding in large groups. It flies late into autumn and can be seen in gardens, grasslands and woodlands.

The hairy-footed flower bee can be seen in gardens and parks in spring and summer, visiting tubular flowers like red dead-nettle and comfrey. As its name suggests, it has long, orange hairs on its…

Found along the coast all year-round, the dunlin is a small sandpiper that breeds and winters in the UK. It can be seen in its upland breeding grounds in summer, when it turns brick-red above and…

Our largest shieldbug, the red-and-green hawthorn shieldbug can be seen in gardens, parks and woodlands, feeding on hawthorn, rowan and whitebeam. The adults hibernate over winter.

This small summer migrant travels from Africa to breed in the reedbeds of the UK. Rarely seen but given away by its insect like trilling call; the movement of the head during calling makes it…

The brown long-eared bat certainly lives up to its name: its ears are nearly as long as its body! Look out for it feeding along hedgerows, and in gardens and woodland.