Will George
LightNews LightNews
banner
willgeorge.bsky.social
Will George
@willgeorge.bsky.social
3K followers 960 following 410 posts
Naturalist with a particular interest in the true bugs, Heteroptera, but fascinated by pretty much all insects and nature. He/Him. https://www.flickr.com/photos/runnerwill/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
willgeorge.bsky.social
Will George @willgeorge.bsky.social · Aug 19
Need photos of invertebrates for education/conservation purposes? Check out www.flickr.com/photos/runne... for 9,000 or so free to use images. Mostly UK, but also a bit from further afield, and a bird/plant/mammal sneaks through occasionally.
Will George
Explore Will George’s 9,650 photos on Flickr!
www.flickr.com
Reposted by Will George
kitenet.bsky.social
Congrats to @graemelyons.bsky.social and Mark Telfer for an amazing discovery 👏👏🕷️ www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘White-knuckled wolf spider’ thought lost is rediscovered on Isle of Wight
Conservationists hail ‘remarkable’ rediscovery after 40 years, at nature reserve only accessible by boat
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:02 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Tis the season for these little scamps to start turning up in my attic, and be given a free trip back to the local wood. As far as I can tell, they always seem to be Yellow-necked Mouse
A mouse in a transparent live capture trap. Just the head is visible, viewed from side on.
October 27, 2025 at 7:03 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Wonder if this would still work, I've never seen Blatta orientalis!
An advert for a demon beetle trap, promising that it will catch Blatta orientalis
October 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Distinctly colder this morning, but this Willow Emerald was enjoying the sunshine in the gardens at The Lodge RSPB at lunchtime.
A long-bodied damselfly which is mostly metallic green in colour with pale claspers at the tip of the abdomen and pale wing-spots.
October 24, 2025 at 7:26 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Found this in York. It's a groundsel, but is it a York Groundsel?! @bramblebotanist.bsky.social
A phone photo of a plant with yellow flowers and green toothed leaves
October 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
🚨New Bedfordshire shieldbug klaxon 🚨
stephenplummer.bsky.social Stephen Plummer @stephenplummer.bsky.social · Sep 29
Chuffed to have just found a Shieldbug species new to Bedfordshire: Southern Green Shieldbug at Clophill Lakes NR
September 29, 2025 at 1:16 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Had another go at getting a photo of the Dicyphus escalerae which have colonised the snapdragons in my garden earlier. They're not very obliging, but this was an improvement on what I've managed before. Worth checking any snapdragons near you to see if these have taken up residence.
A small bug on green hairy flower buds. The bug is greenish-brown with distinctively black and white chequered wing tips
September 26, 2025 at 6:59 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Feels mothy out there...
September 18, 2025 at 6:15 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
A nice surprise in the moth trap a couple of nights ago with this stonker of a Convolvulus Hawk-moth sat on the side, apparently unbothered by sharing the trap with 10 or so Hornets. #TeamMoth
A large delta-wing shaped moth set on pink Sedum flowers. The moth is largely mottled grey, with some pink markings on the thorax.
September 14, 2025 at 7:12 AM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Got out with the camera for the first time in a while yesterday, and had some quality time with the funky armoured mini-grasshopper that are Common Groundhoppers.
A top down view of a Common Groundhopper on a dead leaf. The groundhopper is dark with some pale mottling and a very knobbly appearance. A side on view of a paler Common Groundhopper, with mottling in various shades of white and grey.
September 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Bedfordshire naturalists, please also look out for this!
arcanelove.bsky.social Justin Walker @arcanelove.bsky.social · Aug 24
Norfolk naturalists, please look out for nymphs and adults of the non-native Southern Green Shieldbug ~ Nezara viridula. With this being the second county record it would be useful to know more about their spread. Please add records via iRecord, or DM me. www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/...
August 25, 2025 at 5:59 AM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Well hello there little friend (Grey Dagger caterpillar)
A funky looking Grey Dagger caterpillar on rose leaves. It has a bright yellow stripe down the back, then black with red spots and a white stripe below that. There is a horn like projection sticking up behind the head.
August 17, 2025 at 9:21 AM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Found this wasp in the polytunnel at the lodge (Bedforshire, UK) today, does anyone have any idea what it is, and if the abdomen is meant to be that thin?
Microscope shot of a black wasp with a very thin abdomen and heavily ridged thorax More side on shot of the same wasp A top down shot of the wasp, showing the crescent shaped head and long antennae
August 14, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Will George
rspbscience.bsky.social
Hello world!

RSPB Conservation Science has officially landed on BlueSky

Follow us to hear about our science discoveries, new publications, citizen science, and all things conservation research
July 11, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by Will George
bcdevon.bsky.social
Tomorrow is the day! 🦋🎉

It’s the start of the Big Butterfly Count.

Between the 18 July - 10 August, spend 15 minutes recording the butterflies that you see.

1️⃣ Download the Big Butterfly Count App

2️⃣ Register

3️⃣ Get Recording

#savebutterflies #bigbutterflycount
July 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
One of Britain's most formidable looking insects, a Tanner Beetle, sitting on the wall of a building at RSPB The Lodge today. #Cerambycidae
A head on view of a large black beetle with very long serrated antennae A top down view of the same beetle, showing the all black wing cases and legs A close up on the head and jaws of the beetle, showing the large mandibles.
July 17, 2025 at 7:40 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
This is immensely pleasing - my Stratiomys potamida sighting from the weekend now showing up as a new square on the #Soldierfly revisits map. connect-apps.ceh.ac.uk/targeting_re...
A screenshot of a map, with coloured squares showing 1km grid squares which are targets for revisits, new this year, successful revisits or have records for multiple years, showing data relating to Soldierflies. A pop-up is displaying for TL2744 showing that one species has now been recorded there. An image of the soldierfly Stratiomys potamida, sitting on a hogweed flower. The soldierfly is boldly marked in yellow and black. Several other insects are also visible on the same flower.
July 16, 2025 at 10:11 AM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Delighted to stumble across this Banded General, Stratiomys potamida, in a meadow at the edge of Guilden Morden this morning. Very impressive flies!
Several insects on a hogweed flower. In the middle of the image is a large yellow and black marked fly with long antennae.
July 13, 2025 at 10:51 AM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Also came across a patch of Aspen, and thought, I wonder if anything interesting lives on Aspen? Gave it a shake, and out fell this little leafhopper, Tremulicerus tremulae, which feeds on Aspen and White Poplar.

#Hemiptera #Bugs #Insects
A side on view of a leafhopper which is white and brown, with an obvious brown stripe across the middle of the wing cases.
July 5, 2025 at 6:43 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
I always take a closer look at any patch of Enchanter's Nightshade that I come across, and today I was rewarded by finding the stilt bug Metatropis rufescens hanging out on the leaves, as they are wont to do.

#Heteroptera #Insects
A brown bug sitting on a leaf. The bug has very long and thin antennae and legs, with thickened tips to the femora.
July 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Will George
keithbalmer.bsky.social
In the winter I sowed 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘮 (Snapdragons) specifically to try to attract 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘦. On 30th June I beat one, and today found two by direct inspection. @willgeorge.bsky.social‬ has confirmed as a new species for Bedfordshire.
A slender bug with black and white markings standing on an Antirrhinum.
July 2, 2025 at 2:40 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
One of the best things that you can knock out of a Scots Pine, the delightful Pilophorus cinnamopterus at The Lodge RSPB today.

#Heteroptera #Insects
A bug on a pine needle. The bug has half its abdomen orange and half black, with a pair of white dashes in the orange part, and a white line dividing the orange and black sections.
July 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
First Heterotoma planicornis of the year in the garden today. Very distinctive looking bugs with their curiously expanded antennae. No photo today, so here's one from a while ago.
A black bug with green legs sitting on a white plastic surface. The first and second antennal segments are expanded.
June 25, 2025 at 7:52 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
A nice Isle of Sheppey speciality, the Dainty Damselfly. Extinct in the UK up until 2010, when they recolonised Sheppey.
A mating pair of blue damselflies perched on a grass seed head. The male is a rich blue with a goblet shaped marking on the 2nd abdominal segment.
June 22, 2025 at 6:55 PM
willgeorge.bsky.social
Pleased to continue my streak of weird looking hoppy insects with oodles of the excellently odd looking Pentastiridius leporinus on saltmarsh on the Isle of Sheppey on Friday. A fairly scarce coastal species of southern England and Wales.
A picture of a lacehopper, Pentastiridius leporinus, sitting on a white net. The insect has large eyes which take up most of the small head, perched atop a long body which is mostly covered by the wing cases. There are 5 ridges on the thorax, helping to separate this species from other similar looking ones.
June 22, 2025 at 3:47 PM