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British Invertebrates - terrestrial and freshwater
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British Invertebrates - terrestrial and freshwater
Species
1
-
50
of
260
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next
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Acorn weevil (
Curculio glandium
)
The most striking feature of the acorn weevil is its elongated snout, known as a 'rostrum', which is longer in females than males....
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9 Images
3 Videos
Adonis blue (
Lysandra bellargus
)
Males are bright sky blue in colour with a fine black line to the edge of the wings and a white border. Females are brown in colour...
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13 Images
2 Videos
Alderfly (
Sialis lutaria
)
Alderflies are fairly primitive insects, and were the first insect group to develop a pupal stage. The robust body is brown...
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5 Images
0 Videos
Argent and sable moth (
Rheumaptera hastata
)
The common name 'Argent and Sable' which was given to this species in 1778 refers to the colour of the moth. Argent...
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5 Images
0 Videos
Ashworth's rustic (
Xestia ashworthii
)
Adult Ashworth's Rustic moths have blue-grey forewings with variable blackish flecking. The hindwings are pale and silky...
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4 Images
0 Videos
Aspen hoverfly (
Hammerschmidtia ferruginea
)
This hoverfly is dark in colour with an orange thorax....
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2 Images
0 Videos
Banded demoiselle (
Calopteryx splendens
)
The banded demoiselle has the same style of butterfly-like flitting flight as that of the beautiful demoiselle (C. virgo). Males...
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20 Images
0 Videos
Barberry carpet moth (
Pareulype berberata
)
Adult Barberry Carpet moths have greyish-white forewings with attractive brown patterning, and the hindwings are paler and more...
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4 Images
0 Videos
Barred tooth-striped moth (
Trichopteryx polycommata
)
The Barred Tooth-striped is a greyish coloured moth. The caterpillars are green with two white lines and a dark central line...
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2 Images
0 Videos
Basil-thyme case-bearer moth (
Coleophora tricolor
)
Adults of the endangered Basil-thyme Case bearer have dusky ochreous forewings with delicate silvery-white streaks. Both the...
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4 Images
0 Videos
Bast bark beetle (
Ernoporus tiliae
)
This small, brown bark beetle has scales covering the wing cases (elytra), some of which are raised and form...
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2 Images
0 Videos
Belted beauty moth (
Lycia zonaria britannica
)
Male and female Belted Beauty moths are strikingly different in appearance; females have tiny, 2 mm long non-functional wings and...
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5 Images
0 Videos
Black bean aphid (
Aphis fabae
)
Although sometimes called blackfly, the black bean aphid is actually a true bug (a member of the order Hemiptera). All true bugs...
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5 Images
1 Video
Black bog ant (
Formica candida
)
This rare, medium-sized ant is black and...
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4 Images
0 Videos
Black-backed meadow ant (
Formica pratensis
)
This is a large wood ant, and resembles the more common southern wood ant Formica rufa. The thorax shows some red colouration, but...
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3 Images
0 Videos
Black-banded moth (
Polymixis xanthomista statices
)
Adult Black-banded moths have grey forewings with dense yellow, white and greenish flecking and a darker area towards the centre....
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7 Images
0 Videos
Black-veined moth (
Siona lineata
)
Adult Black-veined moths are white in colour with black veins that are more obvious on the underside of the wings. Females differ...
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8 Images
0 Videos
Bloody-nosed beetle (
Timarcha tenebricosa
)
The bloody-nosed beetle is a large, flightless species, which earns its common name from its peculiar form of defence; when...
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12 Images
1 Video
Blue ground beetle (
Carabus intricatus
)
This is a large and impressive beetle, with an attractive metallic purple or blue sheen to it. It does not possess wings, although...
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12 Images
1 Video
Bog hoverfly (
Eristalis cryptarum
)
The bog hoverfly is a bee mimic; it is very similar in general appearance to a bee. Like all members of the Eristalis genus, this...
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1 Image
1 Video
Bordered gothic moth (
Heliophobus reticulata
)
The Bordered Gothic moth has an attractive pale network-like patterning on the otherwise mottled grey-brown forewings. The...
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2 Images
0 Videos
Bright wave moth (
Idaea ochrata cantiata
)
Adult Bright Wave moths are ochreous brown to orange in colour with fine waved cross-lines on both the fore- and hind-wings. The...
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3 Images
0 Videos
Brighton wainscot moth (
Oria musculosa
)
This species was given the common name 'Brighton Wainscot' because one of the first British specimens was caught in Brighton...
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4 Images
0 Videos
Brimstone (
Gonepteryx rhamni
)
The brimstone is a common butterfly. The males are bright yellow in colour and it is widely held that the species was the...
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14 Images
3 Videos
Bronze Lundy cabbage flea beetle (
Psylliodes luridipennis
)
The bronze Lundy cabbage flea beetle is a dark bronze in colour, and often has yellow translucent wing cases...
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8 Images
0 Videos
Brown hydra (
Hydra oligactis
)
Hydras are freshwater animals that belong to the same group as jellyfish, corals and sea anemones. The sac-shaped 'body' is topped...
More
3 Images
3 Videos
Brown-banded carder bee (
Bombus humilis
)
The brown-banded carder bee B. humilis is one of the 24 species of bumblebee or cuckoo bee found in the UK. It is also one of the...
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3 Images
0 Videos
Buttoned snout moth (
Hypena rostralis
)
Female buttoned snout moths are more variable in their appearance than males; the males tend to have darker, more uniform forewings...
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5 Images
0 Videos
Cardinal click beetle (
Ampedus cardinalis
)
This click beetle has russet-red wing cases (elytra), a shiny black thorax and a covering of fine orange hairs. The larvae are...
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2 Images
0 Videos
Cardinal click beetle (
Ampedus rufipennis
)
This click beetle has bright red wing cases (elytra), a shiny black thorax and a covering of fine black hairs. The larvae are...
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1 Image
0 Videos
Chalk carpet moth (
Scotopteryx bipunctaria cretata
)
Adult Chalk Carpet moths are pale grey in colour with grey-brown markings, and have a darker central band with two black dots, one...
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3 Images
0 Videos
Chequered skipper (
Carterocephalus palaemon
)
As the name suggests, this small, fast-flying, chocolate-brown butterfly has a chequered patterning on both the hind- and...
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6 Images
1 Video
Cinnabar moth (
Tyria jacobaeae
)
The cinnabar moth is brightly coloured, with crimson hindwings bordered with dusky black. Its dark grey forewings have a red streak...
More
9 Images
2 Videos
Clay fan-foot moth (
Paracolax tristalis
)
Adult Clay Fan-foot moths are pale ochreous brown in colour with darker brown cross-lines on both the fore- and hind-wings. When...
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1 Image
0 Videos
Click beetle (
Lacon quercus
)
This click beetle is generally brown in colour, with yellowish blotches and flecks, and a yellow band passing across the far end...
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5 Images
0 Videos
Cliff tiger beetle (
Cicindela germanica
)
The cliff tiger beetle is the smallest tiger beetle in Britain. It is typically dull green in colour with a coppery sheen, but...
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4 Images
1 Video
Comma (
Polygonia c-album
)
The comma is a beautiful, common butterfly. The wings have scalloped edges, and the undersides are strikingly similar in appearance...
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16 Images
0 Videos
Common European earwig (
Forficula auricularia
)
The earwig is a very common insect, and one that often triggers repulsion due to the unfounded belief that they enter people's ears...
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11 Images
9 Videos
Common blue (
Polyommatus icarus
)
The common blue is the most widespread of the blue butterflies in Britain, and as the name suggests, it is one of the most common...
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13 Images
3 Videos
Common blue damselfly (
Enallagma cyathigerum
)
Dragonflies and damselflies can appear alarming to some people, and their old English country names of horse-stingers and devils...
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13 Images
0 Videos
Common carder bumblebee (
Bombus pascuorum
)
The common carder bumblebee is the only common bumblebee to have a completely ginger thorax. Although the abdomen also tends...
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9 Images
0 Videos
Common cockchafer (
Melolontha melolontha
)
This common, large beetle often crashes into lighted windows at night during early summer. It is a familiar beetle that belongs...
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12 Images
0 Videos
Common fan-foot moth (
Pechipogo strigilata
)
This species can be distinguished from other similar Fan-foot moths by its pale hindwings and ochreous grey forewings. The...
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3 Images
0 Videos
Common field grasshopper (
Chorthippus brunneus
)
This is probably the most frequently seen grasshopper; it is fairly large and occurs in a very wide range of colours including...
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15 Images
4 Videos
Common froghopper (
Philaenus spumarius
)
This small, common froghopper is variably patterned with brown, black and white. The wings are held like a tent over the body....
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8 Images
1 Video
Common garden slug (
Arion distinctus
)
Once included in the aggregate species Arion hortensis agg, the garden slug (Arion distinctus) is still confused with the similar...
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2 Images
1 Video
Common pond skater (
Gerris lacustris
)
The common pond skater is the most widespread British bug. It is brownish-black in colour, with a narrow body. The forelegs are...
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6 Images
2 Videos
Common striped woodlouse (
Philoscia muscorum
)
Woodlice are not insects, but are crustaceans; more closely related to crabs and shrimps than insects. The body is divided into...
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6 Images
0 Videos
Common wasp (
Vespula vulgaris
)
The common wasp is a familiar and much feared social insect. They are quite large insects, with an obvious 'waist' between the...
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19 Images
8 Videos
Common woodlouse (
Oniscus asellus
)
The common woodlouse is one of the commonest and widely spread of the British woodlice. Woodlice are not insects, but are...
More
8 Images
1 Video
Species
1
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50
of
260
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next
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Latest news
3rd November 2009: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Extinction crisis continues.
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Rare camera trap images of Diard's clouded leopard.
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An image of the Extinct longnose stubfoot toad.
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The only known images of the Critically Endangered Eskimo curlew.
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Under the Sea
Dusky dolphins are inquisitive creatures, as seen here investigating a southern right whale.
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The basking shark is the second largest fish in the sea, reaching up to 10 metres in length.
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The giant clam is the largest species of bivalve mollusc on fossil record and can weigh up to 300kg.
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Leafy seadragons hatch from the male and will reach maturity within 2 years of life.
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Since the megamouth shark's discovery, only 17 sightings have been recorded of this elusive fish.
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