Ellen Wilson
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ellenwilson.bsky.social
Ellen Wilson
@ellenwilson.bsky.social
560 followers 670 following 150 posts
Love all wildlife and discovering insects, especially sawflies, flies, bugs and beetles plus moths from our garden moth trap; East Lothian

she/her; i/ise (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 tha gàidhlig agam ach tha mi fhathast ag ionnsachadh)

💚🇺🇦🇪🇺🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🐝 🐇🪲🪰🦇🍄‍🟫🐌🐦‍⬛🐛
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ellenwilson.bsky.social
Winter Moths by torchlight - lots around this evening #TeamMoth
November 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A busy morning for Pink-footed Geese today, one of several skeins going by
November 8, 2025 at 9:24 AM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
Rainbows are amazing…
Two dogs walking along a farm track under a rainbow
October 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
Not one, not two, not three, not even four but FIVE Merveille du Jours - marvels of last night’s moth trap! #teammoth
Close up pic of five Merveille du Jour moths clustered together for a photo
October 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
First Pink-footed Geese going over the garden just now
A skein of about 50 Pink-footed Geese in V formation flying high overhead - tiny dots against an overcast grey sky
September 14, 2025 at 9:00 AM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A very fresh Humming-bird Hawk-moth in the garden just now #TeamMoth
A Humming-bird Hawk-moth in flight showing the orange of its hind wings while nectaring on pale pink climbing roses with some seed pods of Night-flowering Catchfly visible in the foreground
September 13, 2025 at 12:45 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
Painted Lady in the garden just now
September 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
I revisited the Euura miliaris sawfly larva earlier today to find an ichneumon wasp working its way around them despite their efforts to defend themselves. Amazing how it holds its wings up to avoid being clobbered!
August 29, 2025 at 8:51 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
Only the second time we’ve had one of these in our garden moth trap, a Dusky-lemon Sallow - one of around 90 moths of 20 species from last night #TeamMoth
August 27, 2025 at 6:53 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
New for our garden from last night’s moth trap: a very lovely Lime-speck Pug #TeamMoth
Closeup pic of a small, primarily white moth with a black square spot mid way along each wing and a ribbon of pale brown running inside the outer edge of the wing. Speckly stripes on the underwings are just visible and the abdomen is mainly black with a small central white spot on each segment and a white tip. Behind the moth is the wooden silvery grey and black surface of our garden table.
August 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A Sallow Kitten caterpillar on a Sallow leaf today sharing its leaf and tree with lots of sawfly larvae (possibly Euura miliaris) - both smaller and larger instars present #TeamMoth
A Sallow Kitten caterpillar feeding on the underside of a Sallow leaf just above a much smaller sawfly larva on the same leaf Several sawfly larvae feeding on the underside of a Sallow leaf A series of crescent-shaped ‘egg scars’ (I assume) scarring for an inch or two along the side of a Sallow twig
August 24, 2025 at 8:05 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A Painted Lady flew in just now to roost at the top of a beech hedge just beyond our garden
A Painted Lady butterfly with its wings closed is just about visible on a beech leaf on the very top of a beech hedge with the bark and branches of two mature Beech trees behind it in the background A closer pic of the Painted Lady butterfly resting sideways on, head down, on a Beech leaf amongst other Beech leaves in front of the trunk of a mature Beech tree
August 17, 2025 at 7:51 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
Two nice migrants in our garden moth trap this week: Small Mottled Willow (from Wednesday) and Rush Veneer (from last night) #TeamMoth
Back of the camera pic of a slim pale mottled brown noctuid moth with tightly folded wings and peachy-coloured oval and kidney marks on the wing; it is sideway-on facing right Back of the camera pic of a pale brown micro moth with narrow, elongated wings and two dark 8-shaped marks horizontally across each wing. Its head is at the top of the pic and it is resting on our garden table.
August 16, 2025 at 7:05 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A Bronze Shieldbug nymph along my walk today
August 5, 2025 at 2:34 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
An impressively large bumblebee on my lunchtime walk today, a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee I think
A mainly black bee with one yellow band across the top of its thorax and one yellow band across the top of the abdomen plus a buff band across its tail tip. It is resting in a crevice in the bark of an ancient Lime tree that recently toppled over in the wind
July 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
Lots of flies and at least 20 Red-breasted Carrion Beetles enjoying this Stinkhorn earlier today #FungiFriends #TeamBeetle @carrionbeetlesuk.bsky.social
A fully grown Stinkhorn mushroom in leaf litter with several carrion beetles feeding on and around it A closer view of the cap of the Stinkhorn with several Red-breasted Carrion beetles on it plus one or two actually submerged in it
July 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
Badger teeth and claw marks (I think) on the remains of a large fungus this morning #FungiFriends
Two large but half eaten yellowy/red fungi fruiting among grass - with bite and scratch marks clearly evident from the exertions of a Badger (I assume) Closer view of the bite marks of a Badger (I assume) on the side of a large fungus Closer view of the claw marks of a Badger (I assume) across the cap of a large fungus Closer view of the underside of the remaining parts of the two fungi - they have thick red stipes/stems and the structures on the underside of the cap have chunks water away exposing the inner cap
July 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A Lesser Swallow Prominent looking very smart, accompanied by a Swallow Prominent for ease of comparison - both from last night’s garden moth trap #TeamMoth
A close up pic side-ways on of a well-marked Lesser Swallow Prominent resting on a table. It has a base colour of dark chocolate with a long swathe of white across each wing A Lesser Swallow Prominent moth at right angles to a similarly-marked but significantly larger Swallow Prominent moth about 3mm apart from each other
July 20, 2025 at 7:14 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A Lesser Wax Moth, Achroia grisella (associated with old honeycombs in beehives) found on the outside of our porch today #TeamMoth
Side-on view of a small (c.1cm) uniformly greyish-brown moth with an orangey ‘topknot’ and dark ring around its head. View from above of a small (c.1cm) uniformly greyish-brown moth with an orangey ‘topknot’ and dark ring around its head
July 20, 2025 at 7:05 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A very yellowy mushroom on my walk today - the Sepia Bolete, Xerocomellus porosporus, I think
Nestled amongst dry, brown beech leaves on the floor of my local wood, a brown mushroom that’s about. 6-7cm in diameter with a very cracked upper surface where the yellow of its inner flesh shows through (especially where slugs have also nibbled into the cap) Close up of the part of the cap of the mushroom where slugs have nibbled extensively and it looks very yellow - a cross between scrambled eggs and the inside of a Crunchie bar View of the underside of the mushroom that is largely out of focus however a red-coloured ring is visible around the top of the otherwise pale creamy yellow stipe of the mushroom; a woodlouse can be seen clinging upside down on the underside of the cap
July 19, 2025 at 7:23 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A Four-banded Longhorn beetle, Leptura quadrifasciata, that landed beside the garden gate this afternoon #TeamBeetle
A large black beetle with long antennae and four large oblong-ish orange spots on each wing case giving the impression of four bands across the wings hence its name
July 17, 2025 at 8:48 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A lovely longhorn beetle found on a fence post after work today, a Black-clouded Longhorn (Leiopus nebulosus/linnei agg)… #TeamBeetle
A brown beetle with a cream central band spotted with black spots and blotches and very long brown/black striped antennae - shown sitting on the top corner of a fence post
July 14, 2025 at 5:13 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A small beetle, possibly Mycetophagus quadripustulatus - a hairy fungus beetle, found on a Dryad’s Saddle bracket fungus this morning
A small black beetle with two orange spots on each wing case - sitting on the cream and orange underside of a bracket fungus
July 14, 2025 at 9:56 AM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A lovely 2-spot Ladybird on a fence post earlier this evening, one post along from a dark-coloured 10-spot Ladybird...
A close up pic of a small beetle with one black spot on each of its red wing cases and a black head and thorax with white markings. It is walking up a wooden fence post in evening sunshine. A close up pic of a small beetle with seemingly five or so large light orange spots on each of its black wing cases and a black head and thorax with white markings. It is walking away from the camera across the top of a wooden fence post in evening sunshine.
July 9, 2025 at 8:13 PM
ellenwilson.bsky.social
A very small soldierfly, possibly the Green Gem - Microchrysa flavicornis, on a Hawthorn leaf earlier today @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social
A couple of Hawthorn leaves one of which has a tiny soldierfly towards its tip with woodland and leaf litter in the background A close up of a metallic green soldierfly back/sideways on, with two thirds of the leaf it is resting on being visible in front of my hand that is out of focus in the background; the metallic colour of the abdomen is visible through its wings A close up of a metallic green soldierfly back/sideways on, with much of the leaf it is resting on being visible in front of my hand that is out of focus in the background; it has mostly pale legs and a thin white line visible on its otherwise green metallic thorax
July 7, 2025 at 7:57 PM