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Tristan Bantock

@britishbugs.bsky.social
501 followers 116 following 123 posts

Ecologist/Entomologist

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Reposted by Tristan Bantock
Palustris @palustris.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The Corixidae or lesser water-boatmen is the most speciose family of water bugs with nearly 40 British species. Most show distinct preferences in terms of water chemistry and habitat structure. This is Sigara stagnalis, a brackish-water species. Cowpen Marsh, North Tees. @britishbugs.bsky.social
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Rob Stephens @tillingtonchum.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A bug nymph found this morning on Rosebay Willowherb. Could it possibly be Peribalus strictus? @britishbugs.bsky.social @rockwolf74.bsky.social #bugs
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Rockwolf 🇪🇺 @rockwolf74.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Good to find Aphanus rolandri today in SW Shropshire! Only the second time I’ve found one! #Heteroptera #Lygaeidae #Shropshire
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
N. senecionis probably
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Richard Jones @bugmanjones.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A good day for lygaeid ground bugs yesterday, many hundreds (thousands maybe) of Emblethis denticollis in a former arable field near Rochester, under mignonette and other low-growing plants. They run like the wind.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I think it may well bea county first. Most records are on iRecord
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Interesting observations, I wonder is fuscinervis needs a warmer microclimate
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I think they would be worth barcoding, probably hasn't been done
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Agree with Maria.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Very interesting as I have never found fuscinervis in numbers and have always wondered if it is actually a good species or just a much less frequent form of ditomoides. Did you see lots of mating pairs?
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Peter Brash @peterbrash.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Up until yesterday I hadn't seen a Metopoplax of any sort. Surveying a quarry in Oxfordshire and came across dozens of Metopoplax ditomoides including mating pairs. Another location in the same quarry had lots of the rarer M. fuscinervis, again including mating pairs.
A mating pair of the groundbug Metopoplax ditomoides. Black head amd thorax with a peg-shaped clypeus, greyish wings with dark marks, particularly on the veins.Metopoplax fuscinervis. Skmilar to the previous species but the basal part of the thorax is grey.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This has spread quickly and widely and no longer warrants any conservation status. In gardens its often associated with Yellow Corydalis
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Andy Pym @exmoormothman.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I wasn't expecting this Mosaic Leafhopper (Orientus ishidae) in the moth trap on Mon night. It's new to the Bristol region as far as I know. The 'intruders' list for the year now stands at 123 spp. @britishbugs.bsky.social
Mosaic Leafhopper Orientus ishidae
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Kent Field Club @kentfieldclub.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Highlight of our field meeting last weekend near Deal - this nymph of the shieldbug Arma custos, swept by Laurence Clemons. A species found new to the UK in 2024 by Simon Warry, and this nymph confirms that it's now breeding here. #UKBugs #Shieldbugs @britishbugs.bsky.social @rockwolf74.bsky.social
A shieldbug nymph, facing to the right, on a leaf. It is with marked with dark patches and fine, dark dots against a pale brown background, and has black-edged white spots around the edge of its abdomen. Photo by Simon Warry.
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James Emerson @norwichbirder.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Vinegar Pond at Mousehold is often rather shallow, so it was something of a suprise that it still had some water. Peering in I noticed lots of large pondskaters, which I suspected were an Aquarius sp. Fortunately I managed to get close enough to photograph one and confirm it was A. paludum.
A muddy pond with green algae growing at the back and wet mud around the foreground. In the background are various trees.A large pond skater on some brownish water with a stick in the bottom left. The pond skater has long upward pointing spines either side of the abdomen tip, an ID feature of this species.
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Andrew Jewels @andrew-jewels.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
A quick visit to Ninefields, Waltham Abbey yesterday produced 271 adult Striped Shieldbugs (Graphosoma italicum) plus my first nymphs of the year, two late instars and two early instars. TL397005 #EssexWildlife #UKBugs
Late instar Striped Shieldbug nymph on HogweedTwo adult and two early instar Striped Shieldbugs on Hogweed seed head.Striped Shieldbugs on Hogweed seedhead.Striped Shieldbugs on Hogweed leaves.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Fancy doing a monthly tax return? 😫This dreadful proposal needs a strong response from the self employed so please do respond to the consultation
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Cyrtorhinus?
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Paul Harris @paulupwey.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
An incredible spectacle above Rodden Hive this morning. 10's of millions of Bug nymphs pouring along the ground, I'm not exaggerating the numbers either, I've never seen anything like it. Right across the field and paths. I really don't know what species they are though! @britishbugs.bsky.social
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Well done George. I got one when in I lived in Swansea c2005. Still the only one I've ever seen
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Terry & Judy Wood @tandjwood.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Found yesterday loitering with intent, this assassin bug, Reduvius personatus, also known as the Masked Hunter. @rockwolf74.bsky.social @britishbugs.bsky.social
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Nicholas Galley @nickgalley.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Male Anoscopus histrionicus.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Lovely - also really uncommon and surely deserves a conservation atatus
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Terry & Judy Wood @tandjwood.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
A week or so ago we had the amazing privilege of watching a Mottled Shieldbug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) laying eggs on, of all things, the landing window providing a most unusual view! The eggs are developing nicely and hopefully we will be able to see the 1st instars soon. @rockwolf74.bsky.social
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AJCann @ajcann.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
They're back. Red-and-black Froghopper, Cercopis vulnerata. #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55
Red-and-black Froghopper, Cercopis vulnerata
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Lots of insects out now in the London area. 16 sp of shieldbugs & allies at Beddington Farmlands/Mitcham Common today, including the spurge bug Dicranocephalus medius and White-shouldered Shieldbug Dyroderes
White shouldered Shieldbug Spurge Bug
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Certainly is
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Georgie W-S @wightmansmithg.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
@britishbugs.bsky.social Piesma maculatum? From my garden. Thanks
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Criorhina rannunculi?
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Rockwolf 🇪🇺 @rockwolf74.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
A nice surprise to find another Gastrodes abietum (Spruce Cone Bug) in SE Shropshire on Sunday! #Heteroptera #Lygaeidae
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John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
The bizarre 'stalk-eyed bug' Henestaris laticeps, common around Buck's-horn Plantain plants, Ayrmer Cove, Devon. The reason why its eyes are stalked is unknown.
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AJCann @ajcann.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Apolygus - simplified Apolygus is a tricky genus, but the impact of a new paper (if widely accepted) simplifies things. As a confirmed taxonomic lumper, I approve! - ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2026/03/apol... #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Miridae
ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com
Apolygus - simplified
Apolygus is a tricky genus, but the impact of a new paper (if widely accepted) on that British list is that Apolygus lucorum and Apolygu...
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Matt Ames @mattames6.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Another day, yet another Shieldbug, this time a Mottled Shieldbug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa). Found among Ivy on a Hawthorn tree down the allotment, the first time I've encountered this particular species. Underside view shows the characteristic spike. VC30 Bedfordshire
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Richard Moyse @kentgrasshoppers.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Some 50 Fire Bugs in the village of Lynsted in North Kent. Thanks to Mike Hudson for the record and photos and to Neil Anderson for passing it on. #KentNature #bugs #TrueBugs
A red and black bug against a dark background. Photo by Mike Hudson.At least 10 red-and-black Fire Bugs climbing on a metal pole.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
That's an amazingly early D. marginata!
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Andrew Jewels @andrew-jewels.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Found a rather attractive Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami) in my Waltham Abbey garden two days ago. #EssexWildlife #UKBugs
Cinnamon Bug: a red and black bug with black legs and antennae on mossy ground.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Yes it makes no sense! They have been here a long time, so maybe policymakers view them more sympathetically
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
For Muntjac and CWD seems almost entirely due to their non-native status rather than an objective assessment of their relative impact.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
I was thinking the same
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Looks right to me! Always a v handsome sp
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
I'd agree it's a probable ruficornis
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Will George @willgeorge.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
A new species added to the Bedfordshire bug slides, with the lacebug Catoplatus fabricii, a rather lovely creature brilliantly found and photographed by @markgurn.bsky.social last year. See all the slides here www.flickr.com/photos/runne...
A slide showing information about the lacebug Catoplatus fabricii. There is an image of the species (a small brown bug with mesh like structures at the edge of the abdomen. The text on the slide reads A medium sized species of lacebug which is strongly associated with Ox-eye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare. The thorax is rather narrow behind the head, and lacks the meshes on the margins found in other lacebugs. The third antennal segment is the same width as the fourth.

A very scarce species in Bedfordshire, with only one recent record. Should be looked for where Ox-eye Daisies are found, especially in dry, sunny situations on calcareous soils. Adults over-winter in moss close to the host plant.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Yes
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AJCann @ajcann.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Blue Shieldbug, Zicrona caerulea. #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem
Blue Shieldbug, Zicrona caerulea
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Palustris @palustris.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
This is the height of ecological illiteracy and shows how wannabe zookeepers have taken over UK nature conservation. Evidence for native status of these species is incredibly tenuous; releasing them into one of our most ancient & irreplaceable ecosystems would be crazy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Three frogs to be reintroduced to West Acre 'pingos'
The money will be spent on breeding thousands of frogs and managing their release in 2026.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Sounds highly dubious
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Might well be new to Yorks I will check with Jim Flanagan.
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Time really does fly
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Paul Harris @paulupwey.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
10 years ago today I looked in the moth trap and saw the critter in the first photo. I actually potted it, threw it back in the trap, then re-potted it after having second thoughts! Three days later I had another! (2nd photo). Mecidea lindbergi, 1st UK record, ID'd by @britishbugs.bsky.social
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Terry & Judy Wood @tandjwood.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Found a leafhopper in the bedroom window on Thursday and it appears to be a Acericerus heydenii - a recent arrival in the UK (2010) and appears to be spreading. We've seen just one before - in South Bucks. @rockwolf74.bsky.social
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