Invertebrate can often be found visiting flowers throughout the summer months.

A project that has been proposed, to record what invertebrates visit certain plant species, at what time of year, and where the event took place.

Initially, it is proposed to limit the recording to three common species of plants, Ragwort, Hogweed, and Ivy.

Ragwort alone, according to the Wildlife Trusts “is one of the most frequently visited flowers by butterflies in the UK and more than 200 species of invertebrate have been recorded on it”. These plants are often dismissed as invasive thugs but they are all wonderful plants for pollinators. We’d like to invite you to join us in the challenge to see how many different invertebrates we can identify visiting each of these plants.

Members are invited to submit photos showing invertebrates on any of the aforementioned plants. Identification of the invertebrates, if not known can be submitted by said members to expert recorders in the YNU for their considered opinions. In order to access names and emails of YNU recorders use the link on our website. It is very helpful for identification purposes, where possible, to take photos of the invertebrate species from different angles to try and include all features, such as head, body, legs, etc.

Submit your photos to the webmaster (lescoe.t21’at’ btinternet.com) for inclusion, along with the following information for each photo.

Name of photographer
Date (month / year minimum)
Place
Insect name (if known)
Plant species (if known)

Important : each photo submitted should not exceed 2 Mb

Rules and objectives might change as we get underway with the project, so we can be flexible to begin with.

So this winter, look through your photos and send in any that meet the requirements of the project.

Tricia & Nora