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.
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.
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.
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.
Homoptera nymphs are often tricky, but there’s no mistaking this beast — Centrotus cornutus. Not rare, but I don’t often see it. Maidstone earlier this year.
October 1, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Homoptera nymphs are often tricky, but there’s no mistaking this beast — Centrotus cornutus. Not rare, but I don’t often see it. Maidstone earlier this year.
First time I’ve ever been asked to identify a bug from a doorbell camera. Male oak bush-cricket, Meconema thalassima most likely. Curved things are cerci, antenna-like tail appendages, probably used in mating. Makes a change from photos of parcel thieves or doorstep scammers.
September 24, 2025 at 5:11 PM
First time I’ve ever been asked to identify a bug from a doorbell camera. Male oak bush-cricket, Meconema thalassima most likely. Curved things are cerci, antenna-like tail appendages, probably used in mating. Makes a change from photos of parcel thieves or doorstep scammers.
I will never win any prizes for setting insects. But I got just enough leg and antennal spread to identify this 2-mm weevil as Pseudoperapion brevirostre. Still rare, but apparently spreading since first found in Britain, in Essex, in 2008. Purfleet, Essex, Monday.
September 24, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I will never win any prizes for setting insects. But I got just enough leg and antennal spread to identify this 2-mm weevil as Pseudoperapion brevirostre. Still rare, but apparently spreading since first found in Britain, in Essex, in 2008. Purfleet, Essex, Monday.
New to me. Pyrrhocoris apterus, the firebug, Purfleet, Essex this morning.
September 22, 2025 at 10:06 AM
New to me. Pyrrhocoris apterus, the firebug, Purfleet, Essex this morning.
Anax imperator, emperor dragonfly, early instar nymph. Always nice to find something that stops you in your tracks and makes you think: “What on Earth is that thing?”. Tower of London moat new landscaping project.
September 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Anax imperator, emperor dragonfly, early instar nymph. Always nice to find something that stops you in your tracks and makes you think: “What on Earth is that thing?”. Tower of London moat new landscaping project.
I’m thinking Stratiomyidae, soldier fly, larva. Unless anyone else knows different. Tower of London moat, which now, after more than a hundred years, has a bit of water in it. They’re landscaping it to have some ponds and flowing water for a wildlife zone.
September 18, 2025 at 11:04 AM
I’m thinking Stratiomyidae, soldier fly, larva. Unless anyone else knows different. Tower of London moat, which now, after more than a hundred years, has a bit of water in it. They’re landscaping it to have some ponds and flowing water for a wildlife zone.
Mother and babies. The unlikely named Pirata piraticus or something similar. Tower of London moat, which now, after more than a hundred years, has a bit of water in it. They’re landscaping it to have some ponds and flowing water for a wildlife zone.
September 18, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Mother and babies. The unlikely named Pirata piraticus or something similar. Tower of London moat, which now, after more than a hundred years, has a bit of water in it. They’re landscaping it to have some ponds and flowing water for a wildlife zone.
Though it seems unlikely I will ever visit Polynesia, this fascinating book by @cathomps.bsky.social has made me an expert on Pacific Ocean travel, remote island anthropology, and post-colonial historiography. Thoroughly recommend.
September 11, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Though it seems unlikely I will ever visit Polynesia, this fascinating book by @cathomps.bsky.social has made me an expert on Pacific Ocean travel, remote island anthropology, and post-colonial historiography. Thoroughly recommend.
The first Pyrrhocoris apterus was too fast for me as it dashed over the gîte patio, but I found this one from earlier — 1774 Jan Van Os, Still life with flowers and fruit, Musée des Beaux Arts d’Orleans. The fly I’m not trying to identify.
September 10, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The first Pyrrhocoris apterus was too fast for me as it dashed over the gîte patio, but I found this one from earlier — 1774 Jan Van Os, Still life with flowers and fruit, Musée des Beaux Arts d’Orleans. The fly I’m not trying to identify.
Playing peekaboo with the rhododendron leafhopper Graphocephala fennahi. Exotic-looking thing.
September 9, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Playing peekaboo with the rhododendron leafhopper Graphocephala fennahi. Exotic-looking thing.
Those pale shapes on the edge of the gîte lawn are swirling vortices of thousands of tiny midges. Not sure which family. Each only 1.5mm long. Either that or ectoplasm.
September 9, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Those pale shapes on the edge of the gîte lawn are swirling vortices of thousands of tiny midges. Not sure which family. Each only 1.5mm long. Either that or ectoplasm.