Linda Birkin
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ljbees.bsky.social
Linda Birkin
@ljbees.bsky.social
340 followers 460 following 260 posts
Freelance entomologist with many proverbial hats - especially ento outreach, citizen science & urban ecology, and wildlife gardening in small spaces. (She/her)
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ljbees.bsky.social
Putting the 'ol PhD ('Investigating insect questions by Putting Bags On Things'. Kinda...) to figure out where the Mystery Wasps in mum's bathroom are coming from.

I can hear buzzing and chitinous scraping from above the broken fan. No one else can.
That reads so much more ominously than it is 😂
A white plastic extractor fan vent on a wooden laminate ceiling. A clear plastic bag has been taped over it, secured with red electrical tape.
September 23, 2025 at 9:00 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
There was a nest in the garden this year! I didn't spot it before, but with the elder shedding leaves: a reveal.
Found an egg shell underneath.

Blackbird?
Hopefully not the Tragedy Blackbirds; but either way, I'll make sure there's plenty of cover there for next year 🐦‍⬛
A bird's nest in some bare elder branches. The inside of an old bird's nest, with a few leaves and a seedling starting to sprout. A small egg, pale blue/green with brown speckles. There is a small exit hole.
September 22, 2025 at 8:10 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
My brother has spotted proper fairytale fly agaric in his garden, so I checked what's fungi-ing about in mine.

Not a very good fungi person, but they are cool to see.
A collage of 4 images of fungi. Top left is a pair of small jelly ears (squishy, folded brown shapes on a log); top right is an earthball, a yellow crinkly ball that looks a bit like a fancy bread; bottom left is a bunch of pale, thin mushrooms; bottom right is a collection of tiny bright orange blobs.
September 19, 2025 at 4:51 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
September 16, 2025 at 12:36 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Very clear rainbow from the train!

Also wtf people around me, not even looking. Where is your joy 🌈
A rainbow visible through a train window, above a field of sheep. A rainbow visible through a train window, above a grassy field. A rainbow visible through a train window, disappearing behind some scrub.
September 11, 2025 at 3:07 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
I WON THE MILLIPEDE SCARF!
3rd place in the entofashion at #Ento25 (and the one I had been not-secretly eying for the whole conference.
He's reversable!
(Kindly provided by @rovinghouse.bsky.social)
Showing off a black scarf with orange/yellow fringe, with a pattern of a red/black/yellow millipede running the length of the scarf.
September 11, 2025 at 1:11 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Final day of #Ento25 and I am stuck in limbo between Edinburgh and Glasgow, as there is a broken down train in front of us :(

At least the view is nice.
View from a train window, hills and trees.
September 11, 2025 at 8:53 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
Awkward loo selfie of the #EntoFashion day for #Ento25.
There are some very fancy insect clothing in display today, and I am dressed as an entomological christmas tree 😅
Showing off the blue jacket covered in 'creepy crawlies' pattern, and lots of different insect pin badges all along the conference lanyard.
September 10, 2025 at 11:07 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
Love the provision of fidget toys, quiet spaces etc at #Ento25
A wooden box labelled 'fidget toy library, please return after use', full of a selection of colourful fidget toys.
September 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
Didn't manage to take many photos at #TalkingPlantsSheffield, but it was a fantastic time!
View down from the top balcony of a light, bright church hall holding a plant conference. Catering sized bag of Yorkshire Tea bags; my beloved.
September 8, 2025 at 10:54 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
End of August, but plenty of invertebrates to see at Windmill Community Gardens today. Tiny furrow bees and *very* tiny, iridescent green parasitoid wasps. We also cheered on a common wasp repeatedly snatching flies out of a dancing cloud.
Lots of gorgeous garden spiders too 🕷
A collage of three insect photos. The first is a small black wasp with a big head, probably a Crossocerus species. The second is a small slender bee, probably a Lasioglossum species. The third is a tiny, iridescent green chalcid wasp. Two pictures of Araneus diadematus spiders in their webs, holding prey. The first one is a dark colour and is wrapping up a 7spot ladybird; the second one is a pale brown and has a metallic green fly.
August 29, 2025 at 6:12 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Quite a few juniper shieldbugs in the garden at the moment. I don't have any juniper, but they're hanging out with the dock bugs on the last of the autumn raspberries!

Always look like they're wearing a stylish waistcoat 😎
Two images of roughly shield shaped bugs standing on green leaves. The bugs have orange patterns on their wing cases that make them look a bit like they are wearing a clinched waistcoat.
August 26, 2025 at 1:58 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Entering my 40s, slightly sunburnt, slightly rain-damp, and wielding a cupcake while I talk about butterflies 🦋
Still bad at selfies 😅
A grinning Linda holds a colourful cupcake up, to dramatically bite.
August 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Hedgehooooog! 🦔🦔🦔
Cat was staring very intently out of the catio as I was about to lock up.
A hedgehog snuffling around the base of a watering can in the dark.
July 26, 2025 at 10:28 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
I am unreasonably pleased by this massive jar I have acquired.
No idea what to use it for.
Large, jar-able items.
A pale skinned hand holding a large glass jar. It has an indented handle.
July 23, 2025 at 6:22 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Interesting Harlequin #ladybird on my sunflower today - I think it has a fungus, but it's also gone all sepia / bronze washed?
What's gone wrong with you, beastie?
(Any idea @ukladybirds.bsky.social?)
A harlequin ladybird on a green leaf. The ladybird is a dark bronze orange with black spots.
July 18, 2025 at 6:24 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Red mason bee and Culiex pipiens life cycle repaints finished!
UV resin to make the egg raft 'float'.
'Bee hotel' tubes = plastic containers cut lengthways; cocoon one is paper mache coat. 'Mud' walls & pollen ball combo of p.mache, milliput epoxy, and super glue/bicarb.
+ So Much Varnish.
#scicomm
Repainted bee life cycle toys, to look more like red mason solitary bees. Repainted mosquito life cycle toys, to look like Culiex pipiens.
July 9, 2025 at 8:51 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
Biodiversity day at Primary yesterday was great - lots of invertebrates recorded for their bioblitz, lots of chatting about bugs with visitors :D
Also GOOD BEE HOTELS!
Not a Caged Pinecone in sight.
A collage of photos of insects, plus a whiteboard with the list of species found that day. Insects are: a hoverfly larvae, a little cryptic ladybird (Scymnus?); Ectemnius digger wasp; Harlequin ladybirds, and a Lygus mirid plant bug (complete with little 💛). Another collage of insect photographs. Large purple hollyhock flower with a chunky bumblebee, a red and black Cinnamon' plant bug; a 'thick-legged hoverfly'; little white and black Eupteryx leafhopper; slim globetail hoverfly; and a marmalade hoverfly. Three bee hotels of various shapes, but all using drilled wooden blocks.
July 6, 2025 at 1:01 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Ms Cat the allotment cat Does Not Like the new(er) cat, Loki, who has decided to hang out at Summerwood most of the time now.
I title this photo: "Precisely Eight Seconds Before She Leapt Up On The Table And Punched Him."
#cats #AllotmentDrama #CatSoapOpera
Two cats on a brown wooden table. One cat is black and white and sitting on top of the table, his tail hanging down. The other cat is a light brown tabby, sitting below and to the side of the table, looking at the black and white cat. The tabby looks annoyed. A close up on the tabby cat's face. She looks annoyed in an anthropomorphised way.
July 3, 2025 at 7:37 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
Next: mosquito. Repainted based on macro photos of Culiex pipiens.
This was probably the least 'needed' one so far, but I'm going to see if I can get the eggs to 'float' in some transparent plastic 'water', since they naturally lay rafts of eggs 🦟
A repaint of the mosquito life cycle toys. Mostly it's made everything a bit more yellow. A comparison of the repainted mosquito life cycle and the macro photography of real Culiex pipiens that was used as a reference.
June 29, 2025 at 4:17 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
More lifecycle repainting!
First off: solitary bee. Brief surgery to turn weird beak into some horns, then new colours, aiming for the Red Mason.
Then ofc the larvae/pupae needed a better room; so it's off to the 'weird plastic bits' box to find a bee hotel.
Waiting on paper mache drying time now...
Stages of repainting solitary bee life cycle toys. The larvae are now cream/white, some 'bee hotel' tubes are being made out of old green plastic and paper mache. The adult bee has been repainted to look like a red mason and is shown next to an image of it in an id guide.
June 29, 2025 at 4:14 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Scenes of absolute wasp-borne carnage on the old broccoli atm.

Each little ball is an aphid 'mummy' - a dry husk that has had a parasitoid wasp larvae fully xenomorph their way out through those circular exit holes.
#wildlifegardening
A green plant stem liberally dotted with tiny light brown balls - these are the hollow dusk of dead aphids that have been parasitised, killed by the emerging wasps once the larvae have matured.
June 27, 2025 at 6:27 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
He contemplates Rain.

Not approved.
A view into a slightly chaotic conservatory. A black and white cat is peering out from a shelf, possibly looking suspicious at what he can see.
June 26, 2025 at 8:23 AM
ljbees.bsky.social
Love lacewing eyes - little golden jewels!
Chilling on an apple tree in my parents' garden.
A green lacewing. It is an elongate green insect standing on some bark. Its wings are longer than the body and criss-crossed with lacy veins. The body and legs are green, its antenna are about as long again as the body, and its large eyes are a greenish-gold colour.
June 24, 2025 at 1:49 PM
ljbees.bsky.social
Repainted the first of my lifecycle sets, because I am Like That. Harlequin ladybird - they're non-native but very common in urban green spaces, so I wanted to have an example. Plan to get another one and paint it to be a more accurate 7-spot too.
Need to varnish these a LOT now!
#scicomm #ladybirds
Four ladybird life cycle toys on a black background. They are: yellow eggs on a leaf, an orange and black pupae on a leaf, a black larvae with orange spots and an adult ladybird beetle with orange wings cases with black spots. They have been painted to look more like harlequin ladybirds. Four life cycle toys of a ladybird on a black background. These were before repainting, with yellow eggs on a green leaf, an orange-yellow pupae on a leaf, a black larvae and a red and black adult beetle. The repainted ladybird stages showing their new colours compared to those in spotter guides. The adult is shown next to an illustration of a matching orange and black ladybird; the larvae is shown next to a picture of real larvae, showing the same colour pattern.
June 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM