Vanna Bartlett
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vannabartlett.bsky.social
Vanna Bartlett
@vannabartlett.bsky.social
1.5K followers 680 following 2K posts
Artist, naturalist, author, cyclist. Loves insects/invertebrates especially solitary bees & harvestmen. County Recorder for Harvestmen and Pseudoscorpions. Hefted to Norfolk.
Website https://arthropedia.co.uk/
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vannabartlett.bsky.social
Current research, delving into the first monographs on British harvestmen - Meade 1855 and Pickard-Cambridge 1890. Got the pdfs printed and bound together. Lovely plate from Pickard-Cambridge.
First page of Meade's monograph on British harvestmen dated 1855. First page of Pickard-Cambridge's monograph on British harvestmen dated 1890. Plate of drawings of harvestmen from Pickard-Cambridge's monograh.
November 24, 2025 at 6:11 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
A little saunter down to Colney church on the edge of Norwich with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social today led to the discovery of a Dicranopalpus larvatus harvestman. The only other site for this species in Norfolk is at Earlham Cemetery in Norwich. Good to finally get another site for them.
A flint built, round tower church with a slate roof in sunlight with blue sky behind and long dark shadows. A harvestman sitting on a whitish stone in bright sunlight. The harvestman has long dark grey legs that are hunched up around it. Its body is white with a dark patch around the dark eyes and a dark patch at the rear of the abdomen. A harvestman sitting on a whitish stone. The harvestman has long dark grey legs that are pulled up around it. Its body is white with a dark patch around the dark eyes and a dark patch at the rear of the abdomen. It has forked pedipalps held up in front of it. Close up of a harvestman sitting on a whitish stone. The harvestman has long dark grey legs that are pulled up around it. Its body is white with a dark patch around the dark eyes and a dark patch at the rear of the abdomen. It has forked pedipalps held up in front of it.
November 23, 2025 at 4:32 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Couple of harvestmen from a brief visit to NWT Sweet Briar Marshes on Tuesday: Oligolophus hanseni and a juvenile Rilaena triangularis. Trying to squeeze in a few more invert surveys before year end. Harvestmen have been in short supply for me this year, possibly due to summer droughts.
A grey coloured harvestman with a darker saddle area and rows of pale tubercles across its body, tucked up snuggly to the right of a large woodlouse on a piece of wood. A small brownish coloured harvestman with a large ocularium on a piece of dark wet wood.
November 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
The folding card is complete, except for cover art. Glueing it together was a pain, first go resulted in torn paper so now has a 'distressed' look inside but art work wasn't damaged thankfully. Drawings slot in so can be removed and then framed if liked.
A hand made greetings card with folded pages inside a red cover. Hand made card with red cover, lying open with first two drawings visible, depicting fungi in black pen and ink. Hand made card with folded paper insert, half opened to show pen and ink drawings of invertebrates. Hand made greetings card with folded paper insert fully unfolded to reveal en and ink drawings of invertebrates.
November 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
2 for the price of 1.
Photographed this nice Orchesia undulata beetle at Bryant's Heath on Sunday. Didn't pay much attention to the woodlouse alongside at the time but now know it is Armadillidium pulchellum, a rather scarce species in Norfolk.
A small elongate beetle with pale buffish wing cases with jagged black markings across them and a woodlouse half curled up on a piece of wood. The woodlouse has dark brown body segments edged in tawny brown with pale markings down the sides. A small elongate beetle with pale buffish wing cases with jagged black markings across them and a woodlouse curled up on a piece of wood. The woodlouse has dark brown body segments edged in tawny brown with pale markings down the sides.
November 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
One page done. Lot of concentration to ink out details and shading. I'm never doing a bird's nest again, will stick to the ants in future.
Two sheets of paper with various invertebrates drawn across them. Top page has all shading and detail complete while bottom page is just outlines.
November 14, 2025 at 11:45 AM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Spent the afternoon inking out the details on my folding card. Slow going as I haven't done any work like this for ages.
A rectangular sheet of paper with ink drawings of various invertebrates and a bird's nest. Some of them have had shading and details added while others are just black outlines. Close up of pen and ink drawing featuring an aphid, ants, longhorn beetle and solitary bee. A bit more detail and shading added to the pen and ink drawing which includes two pseudoscorpions.
November 11, 2025 at 5:03 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
A little project I'm working on at the moment. Some 2025 wildlife highlights that will become a folded little booklet/card as a thankyou gift to a friend.
Two small rectangles of paper folded into four panels with various invertebrates sketched in pencil on them. The top sheet has some of the animals inked out in black ink. Two rectangular sheets of paper with various invertebrates sketched out in pencil and black ink on them. They include bugs, beetles, a fly, a spider and at least one pseudoscorpion plus several ants.
November 10, 2025 at 5:21 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Spot the pseudoscorpion. Yesterday's 42 mile cycle ride down to Suffolk and back with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social included 3 brief churchyard surveys for pseuds. I managed to spot one under an old roof tile at one of them, a Chthonius ischnocheles which is the commonest species I encounter.
A cluster of 6 Garden Snails on the underside of an old roof tile lying on the ground. The sharp-eyed might just spot a tiny pseudoscorpion on the tile too. A closer view of the roof tile with three of the six snails just in shot at the top left. The pseudoscorpion can just be made out if you know what to look for - it is very small, only about 2 mm long. Close up view of the pseudoscorpion facing right on the underside of a rough reddish-brown roof tile. The pseudoscorpion has a shiny dark brown head with reddish jaws and pale reddish claws. The body is pale yellowy-brown. The tile was moved into the sunshine for a clearer photo and there is a strong dark shadow under the pseudoscorpion.
November 7, 2025 at 2:16 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
🧵More on the Coston pseudoscorpions. I collected some corpses from cobwebs in the church to identify at home. On tipping them out, I was amazed & pleased to discover that one was actually alive. Here is Cheiridum museorum, aka the Book Scorpion, now released onto the bookcase to hunt booklice...
A white piece of paper with printed black text and a tiny pseudoscorpion (1.3 mm in length) wandering across from left to right with its little claws held out in front. The pseudoscorpion is approaching a capital letter N. A white piece of paper with printed black text and a tiny pseudoscorpion (1.3 mm in length) wandering across with its little claws held out in front. A white piece of paper with printed black text and a tiny pseudoscorpion (1.3 mm in length) wandering across from top to bottom with its little claws held out in front. The pseudoscorpion is 'within' a capital letter C A white piece of paper with printed black text and a tiny pseudoscorpion (1.3 mm in length) wandering across from left to right it with its little claws held out in front.
October 31, 2025 at 4:59 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Yesterday's 32 mile cycle ride to one of my favourite churches: Coston, long redundant & in care of Churches Conservation Trust. It is plain inside, light and airy with a deep feeling of peace. In amongst the bat droppings, peeling paint and cobwebs I found diminutive pseudoscorpion corpses...🧵
A church with a square flint tower and pale rendered walls. There is a brick built porch and the roof is tiles. The foreground of the churchyard is in deep shade cast by unseen trees but the outline of headstones can be seen. The church is bathed in strong sunlight and there is blue sky behind. Church interior looking towards the chancel. Light floods through plain glass windows onto simple wooden pews. The lime washed walls are water-stained. A place of simple tranquillity. A dead pseudoscorpion with a roundish red-brown body covered in debris and snagged in cobweb on a limewashed wall. The animal's claws are held out to either side.
October 31, 2025 at 4:42 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Spent Tuesday in some lovely private woodland in Norfolk. After much leaf litter sieving, I finally found my longed-for prize - a Neobisium carcinoides. Only my 7th record of a supposedly common species. It's been very dry in Norfolk and there have been few inverts in the leaf litter.
Open woodland with Hornbeam and a fallen Silver Birch tree across the middle of a clearing. The ground is covered in a deep layer of pale ochre leaves but there are still some pale green leaves on the trees. A small, dark and shiny pseudoscorpion with pale reddish claws held out in front of it, running across the bottom of a red plastic bowl, heading right. A small, dark and shiny pseudoscorpion with pale reddish claws held out in front of it sitting on a piece of pale grey wood. Close-up of a small, dark and shiny pseudoscorpion with pale reddish claws held out in front of it sitting on a piece of greyish wood.
October 31, 2025 at 4:19 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
A rather ghoulish #Arachtober post for the end of October - a fungus infested Liny found this week.
A tiny spider engulfed in white fungal threads with numerous thin white 'fruit bodies' erupting from its body. The spider's brown legs are visible as are its dark, shiny chelicerae. The spider is sitting on a piece of dark wood.
October 31, 2025 at 4:06 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
A dull, damp and dreary day so cooked my favourite dish - leek flan. Sadly leeks not home grown this year, drought means they barely grow beyond the thickness of a pencil these days. Shop bought leeks rather lacking in flavour though.
A china dish with a flan baked in it, the top is a deep orange colour. The flan has been cut in half and a quarter has been removed. A quarter of the flan on a plate with some boiled otatoes and romanesco.
October 29, 2025 at 6:47 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
They are about the only thing I buy via Amazon, 2 ml micro vials. Various suppliers. Will see if I can find name of supplier next time computer on. Meantime, here's photo of them - large one on left is 5 ml, other 3 are 2 ml. Ideal for linys?
3 plastic flip top micro vials on a desk with plastic rule to show size.
October 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Well, it's taken a long time but I've finally found my first Slender-horned Leatherbug (Ceraleptus lividus). This one was under a fallen branch at NWT Sweet Briar Marshes on Monday.
A rather slender, brown coloured bug on the underside of a piece of wood, sitting head down. There is a pale line down the centre of the bugs head. It's legs are pale with dark speckling. The bug's antennae are folded back; they have dark basal segments but are reddish in the middle and then have dark tips.
October 23, 2025 at 3:16 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Allochernes wideri confirmed new to Norfolk!
Found by a fellow county recorder; luckily I was present at the time and got to see them and take these photos.
Unfortunately, I now have to update my guide to pseudoscorpions in Norfolk...
#arachnids #pseudoscorpions
Two tiny pseudoscorpions amongst the debris of decaying wood. They have long 'arms' (the pedipalps or palps) that end in claws and pale oval, rather flattened bodies. The head and palps are reddish brown. Close up of a pseudoscorpion amongst the debris of decaying wood. The head, pedipalps and claws are reddish brown and covered in short thick hairs (setae). The pale oval, rather flattened abdomen has rows of short setae across the segments.
October 23, 2025 at 11:21 AM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Fly Agarics at NWT Sweet Briar Marshes. The slugs seem to like them.
#Fungi
A decapitated fungus - the orangey cap is lying to the right and has a hole in the centre and part of the edge is missing; there are white flecks on the surface. To the left, the stem is still upright in the grassy ground but there is a large blackish slug feeding on the base. A few pale brown fallen leaves lie scattered around it. Looking down on a fungus with a red cap with white flecks on it growing at the base of a moss covered tree trunk. A fungus with a pale red cap which has a few white flecks on it. The stem is also white and rather slender with a 'ring' around it. The fungus is growing out of soil with scattered yellow and brown fallen leaves. Behind it is the base of a Silver Birch tree with fissured dark grey bark.
October 19, 2025 at 1:25 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
I rarely find Neobisium carcinoides so it was a good job that the Norfolk beetle recorder was on hand at NWT Sweet Briar Marshes yesterday to find this one for me. Martin is far better at finding these critters than me! #Arachtober #arachnids #pseudoscorpions
A dark and shiny pseudoscorpion with pale reddish palps and claws facing right on a piece of wood.
October 19, 2025 at 1:16 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
A very nicely marked Dicranopalpus ramosus s.l. harvestman found in the dunes at Holkham yesterday. This is the first time I've found one marked like this. #Arachnids #Opiliones #Harvestmen
A pale grey harvestman with a broad brown stripe down the centre of its back on a background of sand grains and thin grass stems. It only has five legs, three are missing on the right side. The harvestman has forked pedipalps. A pale grey harvestman with a broad brown stripe down the centre of its back on a background of sand grains and thin grass stems. It only has five legs, three are missing on the right side. The harvestman has forked pedipalps.
October 15, 2025 at 1:26 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
For #Arachtober a lovely Marpissa nivoyi from Holkham dunes yesterday. #Arachnids #Spiders #Invertebrates
A spider with an elongate abdomen sitting facing right on a piece of wood. The spider is pale brown with darker markings. The legs are pale except for the first pair which are dark and rather thickened. A spider with an elongate abdomen sitting facing right on a piece of wood. The spider is pale brown with darker markings. The legs are pale except for the first pair which are dark and rather thickened. The spider has tilted its head up and raised its front pair of legs up. A spider with an elongate abdomen sitting on a piece of wood. The spider is pale brown with darker markings. The legs are pale except for the first pair which are dark and rather thickened. The spider has large forward facing eyes.
October 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Delighted to find my first Norfolk Homalenotus quadridentatus. A small juvenile under a brick in the gardens at Tacolneston Hall, found on a visit yesterday with Norfolk Fungus Study Group. This is a very scarce species in Norfolk. #Arachtober #Opiliones #Harvestmen #Arachnids
A small harvestman on the underside of a brick. The harvestman's body is patterned in dark and light squares with rows of raised tubercles. It has a horn like tubercle projecting from the front of the carapace in front of the eyes. The legs are covered in fine spines. A small harvestman on some moss. The harvestman's body is patterned in dark and light squares with rows of raised tubercles. It has a horn like tubercle projecting from the front of the carapace in front of the eyes. The legs are covered in fine spines.
October 13, 2025 at 9:51 AM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Posting this just because I can - Large Tree Chernes (Dendrochernes cyrneus) from September. Haven't found a pseudoscorpion for a while, hoping for better luck in the coming week. #Arachtober
A large, dark pseudoscorpion on a piece of wood. It has robust, shiny almost black claws giving it a formidable appearance.
October 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Failed to find any pseuds on Thursday's short cycle ride but @jeremybartlett.bsky.social found me this lovely Pale Tussock caterpillar.
A hairy, pale yellow caterpillar with black lines between the body segments and a row of four 'shaving brush' tufts along its back crawling along the ground, heading left. On the caterpillar's rear end is a slender tuft of pale red hairs pointing up at an angle. A hairy, pale yellow caterpillar with black lines between the body segments and a row of four 'shaving brush' tufts along its back crawling along the ground over oak leaves and twigs, heading left. On the caterpillar's rear end is a slender tuft of pale red hairs pointing up at an angle.
October 11, 2025 at 11:14 AM
vannabartlett.bsky.social
Turned over a fallen branch yesterday and found this rather lovely Green-brindled Crescent Moth. Superb camouflage.
#TeamMoth
A gnarled bit of tree branch with a well camouflaged moth sitting on top of it. The moth is patterned in shades of green and brown. Side view of a moth sitting on a gnarled bit of broken tree branch. The moth's wings are patterned in shades of green and brown. Looking down at a moth on a piece of broken tree branch. The green and brown colours of the moth are perfect camouflage against the tree bark. Some of the scales on the base of the moth's wings are a sparkling iridescent green.
October 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM