iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Presenting the Biodiversity Challenge initiative. Are you doing a degree in biology, zoology, marine biology, ecology & conservation or something similar? Then Biodiversity Challenge might be for you. analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2026/08/biod... Artwork by Unorthodox Sketch!

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I recorded my 10,000th species on Thursday at @sandwichbirdobs.bsky.social. Here's the full story... analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2026/08/i-sa...

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Why are @brighton-hove.gov.uk doing work on elms on a warm sunny day with temps expected of 17 degrees in the middle of the bird breeding season?! The rest of the week will have temps of 18 to 19 degrees. Scolytus scolytus could well be flying then, so this cutting could be SPREADING ELM DISEASE.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2026/04/kill... A mind-blowing four days of wildlife in Cornwall (Orca photo is Nathan Jackson's). Follow the link to the full story on my blog! Right, field work begins today!

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

2/2 I have 11 records. Even managed a new hectad for it in 2020, where it just nudges into SU93 at the south end of Witley Common. I have records then from four hectads in total.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

1/2 #speciesaday no. 689 is Oxyopes heterophthalmus. Nationally Rare & Vulnerable. Found on mature heathland in Surrey where it is widespread. Not seen in the New Forest for over a 100 years. Oddly missing from the West Sussex heaths that are not that far away. A bit jumpy. Lots of leg spines.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

2/2 I have just two records, one from Box Hill and then last year, an entirely new hectad record north of the river! Might have been my spider find of the year but I trumped it with Aulonia.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

1/2 #speciesaday no. 688 is Dipoena melanogaster. Endangered & Nationally Rare. A very rare spider with its UK stronghold at Box Hill, where it can be beaten from the low branches of shrubs. Quite unlike the other Dipoena type spiders, more like a Theridiid with that patterned abdomen.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

2/2 a real south east speciality, my first record was at Dungeness back in 2001 when I started my career in conservation - which will be 25 years ago this summer. I have just six records.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

1/2 #speciesaday no. 687 is Cynaeda dentalis. A distinctive crambid that looks like a parched grass flower head. Nationally scarce a. Feeds on Viper's-bugloss. My records are between 9th June and 9th September. This one was disturbed from rest in the day near the car park at West Beach last summer.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

One last reminder of my talk tomorrow night on my book at Exeter Street Hall at 7.30 pm (until 8.30 pm). I will be selling the book at a discounted rate of £32 (cash preferred). Hope to see some of you there! It's only £2 entry.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I'm doing a talk on my book at Exeter Street Hall (opposite the Chimney House) in Brighton next Wednesday night. It's only £2 entry and I am selling the book at a discount. Hope to see some of my Brighton friends there!

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

It's really quite common all through Sussex, here's my 171 records of it mapped. Such a cool looking thing though, I had one like that where the 'hole' through the head seems to be a collapsed turret and not a hole.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

2/2 I have 18 records, all from the Green Sand Ridge in West Sussex.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

1/2 #speciesaday no. 686 is Oblong-leaved Sundew. Not usually as common as Round-leaved Sundew in Sussex. Find it on bare exposed black peaty mud (M16 - along with Sphagnum compactum and Marsh Clubmoss). This one appeared on a scrape at Hesworth Common last year, it also popped up again at Graffham.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

2/2 I only have 5 records from 2 sites. Marline Valley in East Sussex and as of this year, Knepp in West Sussex. Seems to be genuinely scarce.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

1/2 #speciesday no. 685 is Tanymecus palliatus. Nationally scarce b. Like large, plain, long-legged Sitona. Feeds on a range of plants in grasslands. All my records are between 15th May and 7th July.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

It's arrived! Pan-species Listing: How to Become a Super-Naturalist published by @pelagicpublishing. My first book. I am so pleased with it. It looks amazing, all those photos of incredible British species really make this a very colourful book and a celebration of how fantastic our wildlife is.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

2/2 I have 1,002 records at least! It's basically a map of where I have been.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

1/2 #speciesaday no. 684 is Pardosa pullata. An extremely common wolf spider. The epigyne is very distinctive - think heart-shaped glasses at a jaunty angle! Can turn up pretty much anywhere that is open, most of my records are from the suction sampler. I expect this on every grassland survey.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

As of this morning, I am on 571 species for the year. Here's an update from an exciting spider trip to Stedham & Iping Commons on the 7th January where I found a spider that's not been seen there since 1969 @sussexwildlife.bsky.social analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2026/01/6000...

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

My top ten highlights of 2025! What a difficult year it was to rank these, there were so many amazing moments! analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2026/01/my-t...

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

2/2 I have 48 records between April and August, all on the South Downs, especially on arable land there where it is often common in flower-rich arable margins.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

1/2 #specieaday no. 683 is Andrena minutuloides. Nationally Scarce A. A 'mini-miner'. In Sussex, commonest on the Downs especially arable margins. Slimmer, shinier and with more widely spaced punctures than the much commoner and more widespread Andrena minutula (with which it often occurs).

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

2/2 I have just 8 records over a 14 year period. All my Sussex records are from the Weald, mostly in the west. Not had it this year.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 682 is Tomoxia bucephala. A Nationally Scarce saproxylic 'tumbling flower beetle'. Superficially like the much commoner Variimorda villosa, but a different pattern and more strongly associated with deadwood. I have recorded it between 2nd June and 10th July. Not annual for me.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

2/2 I have just 4 records, not seen it since 2014. I have seen it at Burton Pond and Old Lodge in Sussex, both sites I have surveyed since (and more frequently) but have not seen it in over a decade. Is it declining in the south east perhaps. I miss it!

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 681 is Sericomyia lappona. A very smart and distinctive large, almost black and white hover with a conker for a scutellum. Restricted to boggy sites, much commoner in the north and west but also New Forest. Not common in Sussex. My records are between 30th May and 20th June.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

2/2 I have just three records, all from the New Forest or very near to the forest. I have not seen this in Sussex.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

1/2 #speaciesaday no. 680 is Stictoleptura scutellata. A large, solid, all-black (with an orange scutellum) Nationally Scarce longhorn beetle. Commonest in Beech woodland, seems to be fairly common around the New Forest but it's very scarce in Sussex. All my records are between 30th May & 11th July.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

2/2 I have 811 records. Basically, this is a map of where I have recorded.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 679 is Euophrys frontalis. A very common jumper in open habitats. Identifiable throughout much of the year. Adult males have magic wands for front legs and red-ringed eyes (think Paul Daniels with hay fever). Striking white on the top of the palps too! I just love salticids!

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

2/2 I have just 66 records. Commonest on heaths and woods. I never find lots and there are more spiders classed Nationally Scarce that I find far more frequently than this in the south east. It's widespread nationally though (those two records on the coastal plain are a glitch on the map).

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 677 is Walckenaeria acuminata. Periscope up! The male of this spider has its eyes spread out along the turret - 4 half way and the other 4 at the top! This genus is an utter joy, I love showing this spider to people for the first time. Even the female has a small protrusion.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Anyone digitise sites in QGIS? I have been digitising large complex sites for over 20 years but recently I have found QGIS a nightmare. I drew the yellow polygon (the geometry is good/seamless). I go to merge it with the existing polygon and this happens. Please help! Driving me nuts #qgis

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 676 is Megalinus glabratus. A large, shiny, local rove beetle with red eltyra and a big head that I see in open habitats, usually on the Downs. I have two records in June but most of my records come from August and September.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

2/2 I have 52 records, all unsurprisingly from chalk grassland!

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 676 is Common Rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium). Vulnerable as of the latest status review! It's certainly not in every parcel of chalk grassland but is often really common where it occurs and there are loads of inverts that use it (as well as oddly, mycorrhizal fungi).

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

#speciesaday no. 675 is Silky Rosegill (Volvariella bombycina). I have only seen this once at Ebernoe Common in 2016, growing out of a hole in a Beech tree. It really reminded me of some sort of coconut dessert! www.panspecieslisting.com

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

#speciesaday no. 674 is Montagu's Sea Snail (Liparis montagui). Not a snail, but a fish! Considering it is not meant to be that scarce, I only have one record - from 2013 at St Mary's Lighthouse in the north east. I'm sure I've seen it once more though, but not in the last decade. Cut little thing!

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

2/2 I have 24 records from three sites. Most are from Graffham Common (where it seems to be lost) and Iping Common where in both places it is/was dependant on the creation of bare ground to keep it going. I have seen huge numbers of plants in the New Forest though.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 673 is Marsh Clubmoss (Lycopodiella inundata) is a Nationally Scarce & Section 41 (although it has come off the Red List in the 2025 status review, this is stil a plant that's struggling in places). Found only on damp, black, peaty mud (M16), in places where you'll see sundews.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

2/2 I thought I had more records than I do ( I am sure I have seen it at the Warren at Burton Pond) but I only have two records in my database in 2014 and 2016.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 672 is the obscene Parasitic Bolete (Pseudoboletus parasiticus) growing from its host Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum). Around 10 years ago I was seeing this all around the West Weald. I guess it will come round again.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

2/2 I have 138 records, with more in the Weald because there is generally more woodland there.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

1/2 #speceisaday no. 671 is Abax parallelepipedus. A large & common carabid typically found under logs in woodland. I just sent off all my 8,200 carabid records to Mark Telfer for him to include in the status review he is doing. Surprised there are not more (as I make 10,000 spider records A YEAR).

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

A mind-blowingly cool few days rock-pooling down at Falmouth last weekend concluded with a session at Helford Passage. We found a cockle new to Cornwall! Plus a load of other cool stuff. Full story in my blog... analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

2/2 I have 72 records (222 records of B. lampros). Most on the Downs but clearly can be found anywhere.

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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

1/2 #speciesaday no. 671 is Bembidion properans. A common and ubiquitous carabid of open spaces. I have 3.1 times as many records of the closely related B. lampros as I do this species (on the NBN there are 3.5 times as many - fairly comparable). Mostly recorded by suction sampler. Year-round.

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