Common red soldier beetle
The common red soldier beetle is also known as the 'bloodsucker' for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless. It is a beneficial garden insect as the adults eat aphids, and the…
The common red soldier beetle is also known as the 'bloodsucker' for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless. It is a beneficial garden insect as the adults eat aphids, and the…
The stinkhorn has an unmistakeable and intense stench that has been likened to rotting meat. Its appearance is also very distinctive: a phallic, white, stem-like structure, with a brown, bell-…
The dark green fritillary is actually an orange butterfly with black spots. It gets its name from the dark green hue to the undersides of its hindwings. A strong flier, it can be seen on open,…
The aromatic fragrance of Large thyme can punctuate a summer walk over a chalk grassland. It is an evergreen that grows low to the ground, with erect spikes of tiny, lilac flowers appearing over…
Saw-wort gets its common name from the serrated, saw-like edges to its leaves. It is a plant of unimproved hay meadows and woodland edges, its purple, thistle-like flowers appearing over 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…
A pale member of the violet family sometimes known as ‘milk violet’, the fen violet has a delicate and unassuming appearance. A real specialist of the wetland habitat, this species has seen a…
Coastal limestone headland, with secondary broadleaved woodland, scrub, and grassland. Redley Cliff lies on the limestone headland at the western end of Caswell Bay. The northern and eastern parts…
Saltwater marshes and mudflats form as saltwater floods swiftly and silently up winding creeks to cover the marsh before retreating again. This process reveals glistening mud teeming with the…
As a Trainee Reserves officer at Rutland Water Nature Reserve, Dale is lucky enough that he can take his passion for wildlife to work with him, with a job that will set him up for a career in…