Richard Jones
@bugmanjones.bsky.social
I’m very good at finding insects, in fact I’m a professional. Books on shieldbugs, wasps, ants, dung, limericks. Shout ‘weird bug!’ to get my attention.
A question for ecologists. Or linguists. If sylvicole species live in woods, sabulicoles live in sand, cavernicoles live underground, synanthropes live near human habitations, and calcicoles haunt chalk and limestone, is there a similar word for organisms of acid soils?
January 3, 2026 at 12:21 PM
A question for ecologists. Or linguists. If sylvicole species live in woods, sabulicoles live in sand, cavernicoles live underground, synanthropes live near human habitations, and calcicoles haunt chalk and limestone, is there a similar word for organisms of acid soils?
It's a little known fact, but librarians often try to slip a finger, thumb or wrist portrait into the photocopying you've requested. It's a kind of challenge puzzle for future historians.
January 2, 2026 at 12:24 PM
It's a little known fact, but librarians often try to slip a finger, thumb or wrist portrait into the photocopying you've requested. It's a kind of challenge puzzle for future historians.
Word of the day: marish, slightly archaic form of marsh. The dying swan, Tennyson, 1830. According to Merriam Webster pronounced to rhyme with perish, but my ear wants to hear a longer and deeper perhaps West Country burr, that rhymes with parish, or bar-ish.
December 20, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Word of the day: marish, slightly archaic form of marsh. The dying swan, Tennyson, 1830. According to Merriam Webster pronounced to rhyme with perish, but my ear wants to hear a longer and deeper perhaps West Country burr, that rhymes with parish, or bar-ish.
The eleven rings of colour also featured in Tolkien’s unpublished children’s game version.
December 20, 2025 at 2:08 PM
The eleven rings of colour also featured in Tolkien’s unpublished children’s game version.
Ooh! Advance copies of Buzz just arrived. Smug face for the rest of the day. Publication May 2026.
December 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Ooh! Advance copies of Buzz just arrived. Smug face for the rest of the day. Publication May 2026.
Word of the day: grike — a crack or fissure between blocks in limestone pavement. You’re welcome.
December 4, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Word of the day: grike — a crack or fissure between blocks in limestone pavement. You’re welcome.
The wisdom of the world is written down in books — knowledge and culture and history. Each time I open a book I think of its previous owners. In this case it was David Holditch, one of the book’s editors. Maybe 40 years from now another signature will decorate the fly leaf.
November 28, 2025 at 1:07 PM
The wisdom of the world is written down in books — knowledge and culture and history. Each time I open a book I think of its previous owners. In this case it was David Holditch, one of the book’s editors. Maybe 40 years from now another signature will decorate the fly leaf.
Serious linguistic question. If, in the interests of science, you tear the wings off a fly, is it un-winged or de-winged? Asking for a friend. X
November 3, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Serious linguistic question. If, in the interests of science, you tear the wings off a fly, is it un-winged or de-winged? Asking for a friend. X
Great-looking beast — Phasia hemiptera, a parasitoid of shieldbugs. Near Buxted, in the Sussex Weald, d Ed here I used to see it regularly when I lived in Sussex.
October 28, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Great-looking beast — Phasia hemiptera, a parasitoid of shieldbugs. Near Buxted, in the Sussex Weald, d Ed here I used to see it regularly when I lived in Sussex.
The entomologist at work. Or play. Geotrupes stercorosus.
October 28, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The entomologist at work. Or play. Geotrupes stercorosus.
The definition of shimmying — ruby tiger caterpillar, Phragmatobia fuliginosa.
October 28, 2025 at 7:08 PM
The definition of shimmying — ruby tiger caterpillar, Phragmatobia fuliginosa.
Seems crazy late in the year for mating hoverflies. Sericomyia silentis, High Hurstwood, near Buxted, Sussex. Not a species I see often.
October 28, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Seems crazy late in the year for mating hoverflies. Sericomyia silentis, High Hurstwood, near Buxted, Sussex. Not a species I see often.
Reposted by Richard Jones
Managed to find four Striped Shieldbugs (Graphosoma italicum) on Hogweed in the north east corner of Cornmill Meadows today. #LeeValleyWildlife #EssexWildlife #UKBugs
October 27, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Managed to find four Striped Shieldbugs (Graphosoma italicum) on Hogweed in the north east corner of Cornmill Meadows today. #LeeValleyWildlife #EssexWildlife #UKBugs
I’ll be there.
Are you joining us at our Exhibition this Saturday? A chance to meet other members and browse interesting displays! To find out more including contributing to the Exhibition visit our website
Annual Exhibition 2025 - British Entomological & Natural History Society
www.benhs.org.uk
October 27, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I’ll be there.
Butterfly display fire screen, 19th century by London taxidermist Henry Burton. Almost all the colours have faded, except for the Brimstone. Russell-Cotes gallery and museum, Bournemouth.
October 25, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Butterfly display fire screen, 19th century by London taxidermist Henry Burton. Almost all the colours have faded, except for the Brimstone. Russell-Cotes gallery and museum, Bournemouth.
Anyone know what is a gooseberry bottle? Ingpen, A. 1839. Instructions for collecting, rearing, and preserving British and foreign insects.
October 23, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Anyone know what is a gooseberry bottle? Ingpen, A. 1839. Instructions for collecting, rearing, and preserving British and foreign insects.
Word of the day: pandal — a cold-water prawn. Samouelle, G., 1826, General directions for collecting a preserving exotic insects and Crustacea, designed for the use of residents in foreign countries, travellers, and gentlemen going abroad. You’re welcome.
October 23, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Word of the day: pandal — a cold-water prawn. Samouelle, G., 1826, General directions for collecting a preserving exotic insects and Crustacea, designed for the use of residents in foreign countries, travellers, and gentlemen going abroad. You’re welcome.
Everything must go. By Thursday.
I’m seriously downsizing my library. I sold a lot at the AES exhibition and fair but have some left overs. Have a look here: bugmanjones.com/2025/10/15/m...
More books for sale
I am seriously down-sizing my library. I managed to clear about 90% of the books I took to the 2025 AES Annual Exhibition. Here are a few left-overs that were not snapped up. Please email me at bug…
bugmanjones.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Everything must go. By Thursday.
I’m seriously downsizing my library. I sold a lot at the AES exhibition and fair but have some left overs. Have a look here: bugmanjones.com/2025/10/15/m...
More books for sale
I am seriously down-sizing my library. I managed to clear about 90% of the books I took to the 2025 AES Annual Exhibition. Here are a few left-overs that were not snapped up. Please email me at bug…
bugmanjones.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:01 AM
I’m seriously downsizing my library. I sold a lot at the AES exhibition and fair but have some left overs. Have a look here: bugmanjones.com/2025/10/15/m...
Common, but still a metallic delight, Harpalus affinis. Several at today’s Barnes Common bug-hunt.
October 18, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Common, but still a metallic delight, Harpalus affinis. Several at today’s Barnes Common bug-hunt.
Prize find at today’s Barnes Common bug-hunt. A wasp that can’t sting. Because it’s male. Despite my authoritative spiel a lot of the adults give me sceptical looks.
October 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Prize find at today’s Barnes Common bug-hunt. A wasp that can’t sting. Because it’s male. Despite my authoritative spiel a lot of the adults give me sceptical looks.
Any ideas, bone people? Fox my first thought, but muntjac droppings here last visit. Leyton.
October 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Any ideas, bone people? Fox my first thought, but muntjac droppings here last visit. Leyton.
Brimstone moth, Opisthograptis luteolata? Leyton beaten from ornamental cherry.
October 13, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Brimstone moth, Opisthograptis luteolata? Leyton beaten from ornamental cherry.
Word of the day, fossulet, a short groove. You’re welcome.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Word of the day, fossulet, a short groove. You’re welcome.
Sent from S. Carolina. Railroad worm, larva of beetle, genus Phrixothrix, family Phengodidae. Orange spots are luminescent organs. Glows like rail-carriage lit from within, lights shining out through windows. Preys on similar-looking millipedes. Sadly none in East Dulwich.
October 6, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Sent from S. Carolina. Railroad worm, larva of beetle, genus Phrixothrix, family Phengodidae. Orange spots are luminescent organs. Glows like rail-carriage lit from within, lights shining out through windows. Preys on similar-looking millipedes. Sadly none in East Dulwich.