Spurge laurel
Despite its name, Spurge laurel is not a laurel - it just looks like one! It has glossy, dark green leaves and black, poisonous berries, and can be found in woodlands in southern England, in…
Despite its name, Spurge laurel is not a laurel - it just looks like one! It has glossy, dark green leaves and black, poisonous berries, and can be found in woodlands in southern England, in…
The water stick insect looks just like a mantis. An underwater predator, it uses its front legs to catch its prey. Its tail acts as a kind of 'snorkel', so it can breathe in the water.…
A late-blooming flower, Meadow saffron looks like a crocus, displaying similar pink flowers once its leaves have died back. It is a highly poisonous plant of meadows and woodland rides and…
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…
These non-native limpets arrived from America in the 19th century and are now widespread in the UK. They form stacks and have a specially adapted shell which, when flipped upside down, looks like…
The water scorpion is not a true scorpion, but it certainly looks like one! An underwater predator, it uses its front pincer-like legs to catch its prey. Its tail actually acts as a kind of '…
The elephant hawk-moth is a pretty, gold-and-pink moth that can be seen at dusk in gardens, parks, woods and grassy habitats. The caterpillars look like elephant's trunks and have eyespots to…
The stonechat is named for its call, which sounds just like two small stones being hit together! It can be seen on heathland and boggy habitats.
The arrival of May has seen our seabirds starting to lay and our researchers are hard at work monitoring their productivity. But the changing season has also brought a flurry of new staff to the…
The linnet can be seen on farmland and heathland across the UK. But, like so many other farmland birds, linnets are declining rapidly, mainly due to agricultural intensification.
The bee orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t…
Our largest bat, the noctule roosts in trees and can be seen flying over the canopy in search of insect-prey, such as cockchafers. Like other bats, it hibernates over winter.