Bug Champions

We are asking people to help us choose a National Bug. From the Ashy mining bee to the White clawed crayfish help us find a representative of your country.

The National Bug Vote | Buglife Today Buglife have launched a national bug vote for the four home nations to choose a bug to grace the front of new Buglife membership leaflets. In each nation Buglife have produced a shortlist of four very different invertebrates from which to choose some rare and some less so. Voting will be open....

Buglife Cymru and RSPB Cymru have been chosen as The Lord Mayor of Cardiff's Charities. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness of our charities and raise important funds to support our conservation work in Wales. When the Lord Mayor suggested walking the Welsh 3 Peaks we thought it
was a great idea, and we now have a team of 7 people taking on this challenge on the 28th of April. We’ll be starting very early at Snowdon, down to Cadair Idris, followed by the final leg – Pen y Fan. We wish them the best of luck on their challenge.

Read The Lord Mayor of Cardiff's story The Lord Mayor of Cardiff is raising money to help Buglife

The European pollinator initiative has had a tremendous public response from across the European Union believed to be the fourth highest all time response to and EU environmental consultation. In total 66,579 public replies were received.

Europe unites for pollinators | Buglife The European pollinator initiative has had a tremendous public response from across the European Union believed to be the fourth highest all time response to and EU environmental consultation. In total 66,579 public replies were received. It is estimated that 84% of EU crop species and 78% of wildfl...

Why not enjoy the sun and spend some time gardening for bugs this weekend?
Learn to make a bug house, a wildflower meadow or construct a wood pile. There are many ways to make a garden invertebrate friendly.

. | Buglife wildlife gardening

Can you help the little things that run the planet, we are looking at recruiting three motivated and talented individuals to join our Board of Trustees.

Can you help the little things that run the planet | Buglife Buglife is the only charity in the UK and the EU that works to conserve all invertebrates. We are looking for three motivated and talented individuals to join our Board of Trustees. Buglife has thirty staff members spread across the UK and runs some of the nation’s biggest bee and pollinator conse...

A free talk next Wednesday, the 18th, in Guernsey with the Pollinator Project and La Societe Guernesiaise.

Free talk, next Wednesday 18th April in Guernsey with the Pollinator Project and La Societe Guernesiaise - how to help pollinating insects and the other small things that run the world!

There are five species of oil beetles in the UK, the Black oil beetle, the Violet oil beetle, the Short-necked oil beetle, the Rugged oil beetle and the Mediterranean oil beetle. The first three can be found in the spring and we need your help to monitor their distribution to aid our conservation work.

Oil Beetle Hunt | Buglife Oil Beetle Hunt

Will you join us this weekend at the Cambridge Natural History Society's Conversazione. Learn all about conservation and wildlife work happening in Cambridgeshire. Hosted by the Cambridge Natural History Society

99th Cambridge Natural History Society “Conversazione” Exhibition, aka NatHistFest - Department of Zoology, Pembroke Street, Cambridge | Cambridge Conservation Forum (CCF) Dear Past Exhibitors, Nature Lovers, and hopefully Future Exhibitors! Please find attached the Flyer and Booking Form for our 99th Cambridge Natural History Society “Conversazione” Exhibition, aka NatHistFest. Please note the new time of year. Last year

This enigmatic and elusive deadwood denizen is both beautiful and globally endangered. Have you seen the Violet click beetle, Buglife's Bug of the Month

Bug of the month | Buglife Find out what interesting invertebrate is this months 'Bug of the Month'

European Food Standards Authority has published its scientific reviews of the evidence linking the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides to bee harm and decline.

EU Regulatory Scientists Confirm Neonics harm bees | Buglife Today the European Food Standards Authority has published its scientific reviews of the evidence linking the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides to bee harm and decline. The Authority reviewed nearly 1,000 papers and concludes that clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam all pose a high risk...

We have been talking about Freshwater invertebrates and how they are being threatened.

Freshwater invertebrates | Buglife Freshwater invertebrates

Bogs for Bugs?
Have you seen the fantastic work that Buglife has done on Slamannan Bog restoration.

Slamannan bog restoration | Buglife Fannyside Muir is a large area of peatland just west of the town of Cumbernauld in the Scottish Central Belt. The site has been subject to wide-ranging and long-term adverse management, including drainage for commercial peat extraction and historical afforestation.

Have you seen the Northern February red? It is our Bug of the Month for February. Buglife are asking those in Scotland to be on the look out for this rare endemic Stonefly.

Bug of the month | Buglife Find out what interesting invertebrate is this months 'Bug of the Month'

From the New Forest Cicada to the Bordered brown lacewing Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust works with a large range of incredible animals.
Check out our species page to find out more about the species we are saving from extinction.

Species projects | Buglife Species projects

This half term why not Garden for invertebrates?
Make a Bug house, a Deadwood pile or maybe a wildflower meadow.

. | Buglife wildlife gardening

Want to volunteer with Buglife, we have exciting opportunities throughout the UK with our Urban Buzz work.

Urban Buzz Volunteering | Buglife Are you interested in… • Creating stunning wildflower meadows and sites for nature in your community? • Learning about pollinators and the problems they face? • Learning new practical skills? • Getting outside and having fun? If the answer is yes to any of these, Urban Buzz is for you!

Long strips of bright wildflowers are being planted through crop fields to boost the natural predators of pests and potentially cut pesticide spraying.

Stripes of wildflowers across farm fields could cut pesticide spraying The stripy fields have been planted across England as part of a trial to boost the natural predators of pests that attack cereal crops

Love spiders, you can learn more about them on our website.

Love Spiders | Buglife Steve Backshall tells us why we should love spiders

The first male of unarmed stick insect has been found in Cornwall.

New Zealand female-only stick insect produces 'rogue' male in UK The specimen, which was discovered by an insect enthusiast in Cornwall, could mean the animal is ready to start having s*x

Want to take better pictures of Invertebrates? We have some handy tips on our website.

Taking Bug Photos | Buglife Taking Bug Photos

The European Commission consultation on a European Pollinator Initiative has been launched, and we want you to sign up. We need to save our wild pollinators.

Help Europe's Bees and Wild Pollinators | Buglife Questions and help with answers Part I - General information about the respondent Questions specific to you! Part II - Pollinators and their role Qs 1+2 - Questions specific to you! Q.3 – Pollinators are indispensable! Justification – · Wild pollinators do at least 80% of pollination,

If an alien civilisation arrived on Earth and, with limited time and limited resources, wanted to understand how life here operates, all it need do is to study beetles and dismiss everything else as sampling error. Beetles are, without any doubt, the most important organisms on the planet.

Why beetles are the most important organisms on the planet | Richard Jones Richard Jones: From the minuscule to the mighty, tree-dwellers to pond-swimmers, millions of beetle species reveal a wealth of information about the world we live in

Pollution in many English rivers is currently enough to kill up to 80% of mayfly eggs. These are important animals for many river ecosystems and highlights the dangers freshwater invertebrates face.

Insect declines: new alarm over mayfly is ‘tip of iceberg’, warn experts Modest pollution in many English rivers is enough to kill 80% of eggs, increasing concerns over insects which are vital to all ecosystems

The former Tilbury Power Station site supports an amazing assemblage of invertebrates, including 159 species of conservation concern and 31 rare or threatened species.
Over half of high biodiversity potential brownfield sites in the Thames Gateway have been destroyed since 2007, but Tilbury is an exceptionally important site for open mosaic habitat invertebrates. The incredible assemblage of invertebrates currently found on the Tilbury site won’t be able to survive the development. We are asking if you can sign the petition to stop this development.

For Bugs' Sake - Stop Tilbury Expansion The former Tilbury Power Station site supports an amazing assemblage of invertebrates, including 159 species of conservation concern and 31 rare or threatened species; among them the Shrill carder bee (Bombus sylvarum), Blue carpenter bee (Ceratina cyanea), Four-banded weevil-wasp (Cerceris quadrici...

Did you know that nearly two thousand sorts of British invertebrates require dead wood, and use it in many different ways? Here are some handy tips on how to create your own dead wood habitat.

Create your own dead wood habitats | Buglife Create your own dead wood habitats

Gardens have become important refuges for bumblebees. You can encourage them to visit by incorporating some of these flowers into your garden.

www.buglife.org.uk

A proposed golf course is pitting Scottish ecologists against an American billionaire. Why Buglife are trying to save the Fonseca’s seed fly from extinction.

The billionaire vs. the fly A massive new golf course in Scotland has one tiny obstacle.

Three new spider has been discovered by Buglife in Northern Ireland.
The Arcane tongue spider (Centromerus arcanus), Tree Comb-foot Spider (Anelosimus vittatus) and Tree H-weaver (Episinus maculipes) have not previously been recorded in Northern Ireland, and will now be added to the list of 292 spider species known from the country.

New spiders found in Northern Ireland | Buglife Three new spiders have been discovered in Northern Ireland during surveys undertaken by wildlife charity Buglife which were funded by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The Arcane tongue spider (Centromerus arcanus), Tree Comb-foot Spider (Anelosimus vittatus) and Tree H-weaver (Episinus macul...

Over 900 objections speak out against Coul Links golf course plans. Helping to save this rare ecosystem.

Over 900 objections speak out against Coul Links golf course plans | Buglife The conservation alliance campaigning to save Coul Links is appealing to members of the public to submit objections to the golf course proposals ahead of this Friday’s deadline. Efforts to save the outstanding place for nature have already seen 954 objections submitted and the alliance is pushing ...

Have you seen our new Bug of the Month, the Northern February red.

Bug of the month | Buglife Find out what interesting invertebrate is this months 'Bug of the Month'

Still struggling with presents for that hard to buy for friend or family. Why not adopt a spider?
The perfect present for a quirky friend or fussy family member, or a great way to support the conservation of your favourite spider!

Adopt a Ladybird spider | Buglife Adopting a Ladybird Spider makes a unique gift and great way to support its conservation

Today is and we would like to say thank you to all our wonderful Bug Champions, who work with Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust. It is with their dedication that we are able to save the small things that run the planet.
If you would like to join Buglife as a Bug Champion follow the link below.

Volunteering and internships | Buglife Find out about our exciting volunteering and internship opportunities

Thanks to the dedication and hard work of volunteers and Buglife staff, Buglife Scotland’s HLF funded Marvellous Mud Snails project has rediscovered two populations of the rare Pond mud snail (Omphiscola glabra). One population in Falkirk had not been recorded in 100 years!

Detailed detective work leads to rediscovery of rare snail. | Buglife Thanks to the dedication and hard work of volunteers and Buglife staff, Buglife Scotland’s HLF funded Marvellous Mud Snails project has rediscovered two populations of the rare Pond mud snail (Omphiscola glabra). One population in Falkirk had not been recorded in 100 years! A key component of this...

Going walking in Scotland any time soon, why not get involved in Nest Quest. Help Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust find Wood Ant nests.

Nest Quest | Buglife In Scotland, we have two species of Wood Ant, the Hairy wood ant (Formica lugubris) and the Scottish wood ant (Formica aquilonia). They are very difficult to tell apart and it takes someone with a lot of experience to be able to identify which species is which!

Last week Michael Gove announced the most radical, and much to be welcomed, shift in the UK’s position on neonicotinoids since Buglife first wrote to Defra ministers in 2008 raising concerns about risks to wild bees and aquatic life.

Finally UK follows science and backs bee saving pesticide ban | Buglife Today Michael Gove has announced the most radical, and much to be welcomed, shift in the UK’s position on neonicotinoids since Buglife first wrote to Defra ministers in 2008 raising concerns about risks to wild bees and aquatic life.