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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

The males of Andrena clarkella don't sit still for long in the sunshine, so I had to grab one to show the camera.

Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

There was a huge amount of activity at one of my local nesting aggregations today. Andrena clarkella (pics 1 & 2) is one of the first mining bees to emerge each year. But look closely, and you might spot Nomada leucophthalma (pic 3), which is a brood parasite of A. clarkella.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Something new, big and never-before-seen is coming. Have you ever wanted to camp in a field with your family and spend a weekend learning about insects? Me too!!! Well, now you can... invertopia.ie Please share wide and far.

A screenshot of the invertopia.ie website showing a wolf spider image behind the text and graphics.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Argonemertes dendyi, a terrestrial proboscis worm from Australia, is now found across Europe. These worms capture and envenomate prey by ejecting a web-like structure from their mouths. Currently, it is in a stasis-like state, having built a cocoon to prevent drying out. Fascinating creatures! 🤯

Argonemertes dendyi, and the tip of a ball-point pen!

This specimen is encapsulated in a transparent cocoon to prevent it from drying out.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Spring is here for sure... Some finds from today and yesterday. Andrena clarkella (Clark's Mining Bee) Bombus lucorum agg. (White-tailed Bumblebee) Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly It's time for you to go out and explore!

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

I've been working on building this app over the last month or so. If you're interested in biological recording, you might like it. It does cost (€4.99 a month), but just enough to cover the server costs. Works on mobile and desktop. Would love to hear what you think? bionexus.pro

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

I had a fantastic experience yesterday, as I was invited to DeafVillageIreland.ie to talk to the deaf community members about Irish bees. I've never felt so welcome nor witnessed so much interest in my talks. Special thanks to Caroline (who also invited me) and Aoife for signing my talk.

Me signing my name for the community members of DeafVillageIreland.ie while the amazing Caroline O'Leary looks on.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Serendipity allowed me to catch the exact moment a tiny (1.5mm) Chthonius ischnocheles pseudoscorpion caught and ate a bark louse (Psocoptera). For some reason, I assumed it would use its palps (pincers) more, but it didn't. It just chomped away with its chelicerae (jaws).

A pseudoscorpion feasting on a bark louse

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Meet Artioposthia exulans This flatworm specimen was sent to me to photograph and share it with you all. A non-native visitor to this island, it seems to be located primarily in the south-west and most likely arrived on horticultural goods, once again, highlighting the importance of biosecurity.

Artioposthia exulans, a terrestrial flatworm

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

I was out surveying today, Blessington lakeside, and turned a stone only to find not one but two really scarce harvestmen (and you know I liove my harvestmen). The last time Mitostoma chrysomelas was recorded in the Republic of Ireland was way, way back in 1997. Isn't it a little stunner!!!?

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Don't forget, tonight you can join me for a 90-minute chat about Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates. Grab your ticket here while you can: inverts-2025.eventbrite.ie There are so many things to talk about, 116 slides' worth of things to be exact! 🙂

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Last chance to grab a ticket to this evening's webinar, The Weird & Wonderful World of Irish Wasps. I promise you some mind-blowing facts and anecdotes. irish-wasps-2025.eventbrite.ie

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

There's very little that matches the excitement of finding a pseudoscorpion for me. They are so few and far between that they always warrant a mini celebration. This stunning specimen is Chthonius ischnocheles (get your tongue around that!). Have you ever seen a pseudoscorpion? Let me know...

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Monday, 8th September, will see me hosting a webinar on Irish Bumblebees for Beginners, showcasing the most common 7 bumblebees plus a few extra to boot. Learn about their lifestyles as well as how to identify them. Get your ticket here: irish-bumblebees-2025.eventbrite.ie

A hand drawn image of a bumblebee with some information

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

The Weird & Wonderful World of Irish Wasps Come join me for this webinar, next Monday, 1st September. Tickets are Pay What You Can: irish-wasps-2025.eventbrite.ie

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

No. They are detrivores, like all the other woodlice in Ireland. There is plenty of dead leaves and rotting wood to go around. They aid in the decomposition and return of nutrients to the soil. Most likely, it hasn't spread more because our climate just isn't suitable, but that is changing...

https://www.gbif.org/species/2203739

A distribution chart showing A. nasatum's distribution in European countries.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

A really exciting find for me this weekend in my parents' front garden. Say hello to the Nosy Pill Woodlouse, Armadillidium nasatum. This is the first record of it in the wild in Ireland (i.e. outside of a garden centre). Keep an eye out for strange things; you never know what you'll find.

Armadillidium nasatum woodlouse from the side

Armadillidium nasatum woodlouse from the front, showing its raised 'snout'.

Armadillidium nasatum woodlouse - a dorsal view showing its colouration.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Every field surveyor's worst nightmare. This is an adult tick (Ixodes ricinus). Photo 1: Dormant Photo 2: It smelled my breath or felt the heat of my finger using special organs (Haller's Organ) on its forelegs and started to wake Photo 3: It tried to give me a hug 😬 Amazing creatures.

An adult sheep tick reaching out its legs in an attempt to latch on to a host

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

This is the tiniest little jumping spider I came across yesterday while surveying my parents' front garden. I know it's anthropomorphic, but jumping spiders always look a little worried to me. I want to help them, but I'm not quite sure how... 🙂

A 2mm long jumping spider sitting on a stone

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

This is the business end of a Brown Hawker Dragonfly. If you are a flying invertebrate, you do not want to see this up close. Dragonflies are exceptional on-the-wing hunters with a success rate that is unmatched in the animal kingdom.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Last spider pic for a while, I promise... 👀 This beautiful Flower Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) was spotted hiding out on some Thistle flowers, waiting for an unsuspecting meal. We saw it eye up an Eristalis tenax (Drone Fly), but it opted out as the fly was quite large.

A white crab spider sitting on a thistle flower head

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

@collieennis.bsky.social and I went on a special adventure yesterday, including checking on a population of Cave Spiders (Meta menardi). Hunched over, walking down a smelly underground tunnel and trying desperately to avoid badger poo, I eventually got face-to-face with this stunning specimen.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Just look at this beautiful Trochosa species spider, found under a granite rock, lakeside in Valleymount, West Wicklow. These are bigger than your average wolf spider!

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Join me this Monday for a 90-minute online session about one of my favorite topics: Irish Harvestmen. By the end, you'll distinguish between Nemastoma, Oligolophus, Phalangium and more. Tickets are Pay What You Can, and if you need a free ticket, just let me know. irish-harvestmen.eventbrite.ie

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

If I sweep the grass in the meadow with a net, it is absolutely overrun with bugs, true bugs, as well as other things. This is, I believe, a Marsh Damsel Bug (Nabis limbatus). Females lay eggs in grass blades.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

What's going on here, you 'mite' be asking yourself? (See what I did there?) This female Mitopus morio harvestman is suffering the attention of no less than nine parasitic mites. Each is sucking out her haemolymph for its own benefit.

A female Mitopus morio harvestman covered in parasitic mites.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

It's rarely only moths we catch in the moth trap. Just yesterday we had a stonefly (Siphonoperla torrentium), a 10-spot ladybird, a Green Drake Mayfly, a Tipula species Cranefly, dozens of Caddisflies and thousands of midges!

a tiny green Siphonoperla torrentium stonefly

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Another beautiful moth taken from the light trap yesterday. This one is called a Barred Straw. These fly regularly at night from June to August, and the larvae feed on the Bedstraw family of wildflowers.

A Barred Straw Moth resting on an egg carton

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Not a ladybird I see very often, and noticeably smaller than the 7-spot ladybird it superficially resembles. This is the 11-spot ladybird (Coccinella undecimpunctata). Try saying that three times, fast! Like many other ladybirds, it feeds on aphids and is therefore beneficial to gardeners.

An 11-spot ladybird habitus from the side

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Another beautiful moth which camouflages itself as a small broken twig. Much smaller than the Buff Tip I shared with you last week, this Flame Moth turned up in the moth trap this morning. If you want an Order of insects that could absolutely absorb your entire life, you want moths. 🙂

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Insects and invertebrates can be so hardy at times. I took this Riband Wave moth from my moth trap this morning, and you can see that its left hind wing is almost cut in two. Perhaps it had a run-in with a bat or bird and somehow managed to survive. It didn't appear to have any problems flying.

A Riband Wave moth with its wings outspread, sitting on a twig. Its left hind wing is torn from the bottom almost to the top

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

There's nothing like a good exfoliation to make you feel better. Woodlice grow by shedding their exoskeleton and then increasing their size before the new exoskeleton hardens. They do this one body half at a time - front first and back later. They will often eat the skin to reabsorb the calcium.

A woodlouse on a piece of wood with the front half of its exoskeleton shed and sitting in front of it.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Tipula maxima is the largest cranefly in Ireland, and when you see it in real life, you know why. It is so big, with a leg span of up to 10cm! It also has heavily patterned wings. The sharp bit at the end of the abdomen is just an ovipositor and not a sting. Have you seen these around lately?

A Tipula maxima cranefly is being held with one wing between my fingers.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

I stuck my moth trap in @collieennis vegetable patch last night to see what we might find and it didn't disappoint. There's little as physically imposing as a Poplar Hawk Moth but we had some other beauties, too. Names in ALT text.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Buff-tip moths are evolutionary superstars in my book. Imagine evolving to look like a small, broken twig. Mind blown!!! These are very much out and about at the moment, but you're very unlikely to spot them resting during the day... and with good reason. Seen any lately?

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Let me introduce you to this little rinky-dink, otherwise known as Rhynchodemus sylvaticus (it doesn't have a common name 🙁 ). At about 2cm long, it is, we think, a native terrestrial flatworm that feeds on dead slugs, woodlice, etc. What a beauty!

A brown terrestrial flatworm, about 2cm long when fully elongated, with a black eye visible on its anterior - close up

A brown terrestrial flatworm, about 2cm long when fully elongated, with a black eye visible on its anterior

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Can we all just take a moment to stare into those puppy-dog eyes... 😍 I think it's very important to see invertebrates up close so you can see that they are not 'out to get you' or 'creepy'. Instead, they are absolute wonders of evolution.

A Mitopus morio harvestman looking at the camera face-on.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

One thing we were not short of at yesterday's Family Bug Safari was biting flies. Although, thankfully, my citronella kept them at bay for me. This fantastic specimen is a male Twin-lobed Deer Fly. Males don't bite, though; they feed on nectar, so I was safe with this one.

A male twin-lobed deer fly with metallic green eyes in focus

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

This is 100% the face and reaction you're looking for when you run a family event like today's Family Bug Safari. She will remember this for a long time... 😀

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

We had some amazing finds on our Family Bug Safari today; some of the more impressive ones are showcased here... 1. Poplar Hawk Moth 2. Buff Tip Moth 3. Brown Hawker 4. Anelasmocephalus cambridgei (Harvestman)

1. Poplar Hawk Moth
This one didn't even bother to get in the moth trap, instead it somehow landed on my friend Fiona's leg.

2. Buff Tip Moth
In my hand, I'm holding a stick. Resting on my hand is a moth pretending to be a stick. And it's doing a fine job of it, too.

3. Brown Hawker
Purely accidental catch, I was just about to dip my net in the pond and this beautiful female crossed in front of my eyes.

4. Anelasmocephalus cambridgei (Harvestman)
A really, really, scarcely recorded harvestman, which in fairness, doesn't even look like a harvestman. But it is.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

It was a pleasure to attend the Powerscourt Working with Nature Awards today, where microWild was shortlisted in the Biodiversity and Rewilding category. I met and chatted with some fantastic people, all of whom are passionately driving the same agenda: nature protection and nourishment.

A poster for the Working with Nature Awards

Left to Right: Jack Morley (rewildlife vlog), Brian O'Toole (Wildacres), Prof. Jane Stout (Trinity College), Gilly Taylor (Wildacres), me, Collie Ennis (National Treasure)

Me talking to some excellent people (as Bill and Ted would say)

Great to catch up with Collie Ennis, who I hadn't seen in a few weeks, and who may just be getting younger...

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Harvestmen come in all different shapes and sizes. Long legs, short legs. Black, cream, brown, red, striped. Whatever you want is available. We're fast entering peak harvestman season, so here are three harvestmen I found the other day. Remember. NOT a spider! Please share your photos... 1/3

Stunningly coloured and patterned Mitopus morio harvestman from the front. This is a long-legged species.

Beautiful and petite, a cream and brown Oligolophus tridens with a trident of three spines of equal length sitting in front of the eyes. This is one of the medium-legged species.

A dark brown specimen of the short-legged harvestman species, Nemastoma bimaculatum. This has most likely recently shed its exoskeleton and is waiting for its colour to change to black.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Male (above) and female (below) Sinodendron cylindricum (Rhinoceros Beetle). There were lots of these on the wing in an abandoned quarry I visited today. Such a beautiful saproxylic species which relies on dead/rotting wood to complete its lifecycle.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

This Planarian, a terrestrial flatworm from the Phylum Platyhelminthes, is often found under stones and logs during my surveys. This specimen, Microplana kwiskea, may not have been recorded in the 26 counties yet (I'm checking). It was verified by Dr. Hugh Jones in the UK.

A flatworm on a white background, attached to some detritus

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

I visited microWild to do a bit of post-weekend clean-up last evening and, while moving pieces of timber, came across these beautiful newts. They were promptly relocated to a safe space, our new Amphibian Refuge. Have you come across any newts lately? Share your pics!

A stack of logs, branches and twigs piled high, acting as a refuge for amphibians.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

This species is only recorded a couple of times a year on an irregular basis, with only 37 verified records in the NBDC database.

A graph showing that the species gets only a couple of records a year on an irregular basis

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

It's always exciting to find a new genus or species that you've not seen before. Yesterday, I found a specimen of Coelioxys inermis (Shiny-vented Sharp-tail Bee) in a brownfield site beside my house. These are cuckoos of Leafcutter Bees, and there were several males of those on the wing, too.

A male Coelioxys inermis sitting on a white background

A male Coelioxys inermis sitting on a white background, from the front

A male Coelioxys inermis sitting on a white background. This image shows the many spines at the tip of his abdomen.

A male Coelioxys inermis sitting on a plastic pipe in the sunlight

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Yesterday, while searching for harvestmen, I found a Xysticus crab spider eating an ant. Crab spiders look amazingly alien up close and deserve another look. I used to be wary of spiders, but seeing them up close has made me appreciate them and handle them freely. What about you?

A Xysticus species spider with an ant in its jaws.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Carrion Beetles are amazing insects that can smell rotting flesh (which they lay their eggs in) up to two miles away with their special antennae. This species, Nicrophorus vespilloides, is quite common and regularly found under dead animals and birds. Have you spotted one recently? Let me know!

The Common Sexton Beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, resting on a white tissue. The beetle is black with orange stripe patterns on its elytra

The Common Sexton Beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, resting on a white tissue. The beetle is black with orange stripe patterns on its elytra,
In this image we are seeing it face on.

The Common Sexton Beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, resting on a white tissue. The beetle is black with orange stripe patterns on its elytra. A mite is clearly visible hanging on to the underside of the beetle's head.

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Ireland's Incredible Invertebrates! @microwild.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Don't forget, in just a few weeks, we'll run a Family Bug Safari on the microWild estate. Here, I'll get to share some of the amazing insects and invertebrates that Ireland has to offer. And @collieennis will be there to record it all for the Critter Shed Podcast. family-bug-safari.eventbrite.ie

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