You are most likely to spot the cat flea if you have pets. It will feed on cats, dogs and people, although it can't live on us. It is a pest and needs to be controlled in the house for the…

This small reddish-purple seaweed grows in small branching fans on rocky shores. It is widely used in the food industry - and might have been used to produce your ice cream, beer or even jelly!…

The pink, frayed flowers of Ragged-robin are an increasingly rare sight as our wild wetland habitats disappear. You can help: grow native plants in your garden and enjoy the hum of visiting…

The parent bug lives up to its name. The female lays her eggs on a silver birch leaf, watching over them until they hatch. She stays with the young until they are adults. Other shield bugs lay…

The fearsome-looking hornet may not be a well-loved insect, but it is actually much less aggressive than the common wasp. It is also an important pollinator and a predator of species that feed on…

It's easy to see where the compass jellyfish got its name – its brown markings look just like a compass! They may look beautiful – but they give a nasty sting so keep your distance.

Many of us have felt the painful bite of the twin-lobed deer-fly (a 'horse-fly') while out walking in damp grasses or woods. But mostly, it prefers to feed on the blood of cows and…

Living up to its name, the cherry gall wasp produces growths, or 'galls', on oak leaves that look like red cherries. Inside the gall the larvae of the wasp feed on the host tissues but…

A common plant of disturbed ground like roadside verges and field edges, the spear thistle has purple, fluffy flower heads that appear in summer. Its flowers attract insects and its seeds feed…