(7/7) 6) Educate yourself and others – learning a bit more about the world around you can help you to connect with nature which has been shown to improve health and wellbeing. Take a walk and try to learn a bit about the creatures you find outside and share that with others.

(6/7) 5) Share insect LOVE! At some point in our lives many of us seem to go from “ooo bugs!” to “errrr bugs!”. We need to change that. So instead of shooing that insect away or dismissing the creatures you see out and about, take a moment to have a good look and appreciate the tiny things!

(5/7) 4) Turn off outside lights at night – many nocturnal insects are attracted to light which disrupts their behavioural patterns and can lead to exhaustion and increased predation. Turn off lights when you can or switch to motion activated lighting if really needed.

(4/7) 3)St op using pesticides! - they often impact more than just the target species, putting a serious dent in local insect populations. They leach into rivers and streams causing further harm. Check out tips from the RHS on managing for pests without chemicals - www.rhs.org.uk/prevention-p...

(3/7) 2) Leave some lawn to grow wild – this will encourage wildflower growth and add variety in height creating a sheltered microclimate. If you can’t stop mowing, try to mow less. A study in 2022 by Proske et al (doi.org/10.1016/j.uf...) showed frequent mowing has a strong -ve impact.

(2/7) 1) Provide resources – Grow a variety of native plants in your garden for a range of food sources and nesting sites. For some bees and hoverflies, open flowers are preferred while other bees, butterflies and moths like tubular flowers. Plant some night-scented flowers for my favs the moths.

(7/7) 6) iRecord – My last app is for those of you interested in contributing to the collection of data for science! You can submit observations of species using the iRecord app. My PhD work used this kind of data so I am personally grateful to all recorders! irecord.org.uk/app

(6/7) 5) Ento Live webinars – If you want to get a bit more in-depth or are interested in research on insects then you might want to watch the free ento LIVE seminars available on YouTube - www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

(5/7) 4) Mini guides – the simplest way to get to know a bit more about insects is to just look around you! The Field Studies Council have a range of fold out guides to help you figure things out, available on their online shop - www.field-studies-council.org/product-cate...

(4/7) 3) What’s flying tonight? – a fantastic app that uses biological records (observations of a species collected at a specific time and location) to let you know what moths may be flying in your area that night. Take a look to discover your local moth communities. www.brc.ac.uk/app/whats-fl...

(3/7) 2) #wasplove game - This online game was developed by wasp researchers and challenges players to raise and maintain a thriving wasp colony in the face of many challenges! Take on the role of the European paper wasp as you encounter a range of environmental catastrophes. wasplove.com

(2/7) 1) ObsIdentify – this is one of my favourite mobile phone apps! You can take or upload a photo with the app and it will work to identify wild animals and plants in your photos. Check out the webpage for more and to download - observation.org/apps/obsiden...

And here are the rest!

Read more about Maud here: www.zsl.org/news-and-eve...

4) One of my favourites from previous library tours is the beautifully illustrated book on insects of Suriname by Marie Sibille Merian. I’m now thinking I need to come up with a research project that requires me to live in the library and devour all these incredible books! (5/5)

3) The oldest book on insects in the ZSL library: Aldrovandi's "De animalibus insectis..." published in 1638. (4/5)

2) Two books illustrated by Maud Horman-Fisher who illustrated for journals and books. From my visits to the library, I’ve learnt that many illustrations were done by female relatives of the male authors – think daughters and wives roped into helping out! Read more about Maud here. (3/5)

1) A Natural history of English Moths. This book features an incredible image of someone collecting specimens. Can we bring back the more formal fieldwork attire? (2/5)