To celebrate #InsectAdvent looking back to Dragonfly season, the balmy days of, er, last week. A ridiculously late record of 19th December on Brownsea Island! @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @georgemcgavin.bsky.social
December 24, 2025 at 5:07 PM
To celebrate #InsectAdvent looking back to Dragonfly season, the balmy days of, er, last week. A ridiculously late record of 19th December on Brownsea Island! @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @georgemcgavin.bsky.social
🎄 Happy #ChristmasEve 🎄
Thank you to everyone who joined us for #InsectAdvent 🐞🦋🐝 We hope you’ve enjoyed the amazing images captured by photographers celebrated in our #InsectWeek photography competitions.
Here’s to a bright 2026 filled with curiosity, discovery and wonder of the insect world ✨
Thank you to everyone who joined us for #InsectAdvent 🐞🦋🐝 We hope you’ve enjoyed the amazing images captured by photographers celebrated in our #InsectWeek photography competitions.
Here’s to a bright 2026 filled with curiosity, discovery and wonder of the insect world ✨
December 24, 2025 at 1:02 PM
🎄 Happy #ChristmasEve 🎄
Thank you to everyone who joined us for #InsectAdvent 🐞🦋🐝 We hope you’ve enjoyed the amazing images captured by photographers celebrated in our #InsectWeek photography competitions.
Here’s to a bright 2026 filled with curiosity, discovery and wonder of the insect world ✨
Thank you to everyone who joined us for #InsectAdvent 🐞🦋🐝 We hope you’ve enjoyed the amazing images captured by photographers celebrated in our #InsectWeek photography competitions.
Here’s to a bright 2026 filled with curiosity, discovery and wonder of the insect world ✨
🎄 Celebrating Christmas Eve's #InsectAdvent order: #Strepsiptera, bizarre & brilliant parasites, and RES mascot since 1833.
Their morphology & history mean they’re rarely seen. Many entomologists describe them as one of the strangest insect orders.
🔗 buff.ly/U7pmiwX
Their morphology & history mean they’re rarely seen. Many entomologists describe them as one of the strangest insect orders.
🔗 buff.ly/U7pmiwX
Classification of Insects - Strepsiptera
Strepsiptera (c) Hallvard Elven Artsdatabanken
www.royensoc.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
🎄 Celebrating Christmas Eve's #InsectAdvent order: #Strepsiptera, bizarre & brilliant parasites, and RES mascot since 1833.
Their morphology & history mean they’re rarely seen. Many entomologists describe them as one of the strangest insect orders.
🔗 buff.ly/U7pmiwX
Their morphology & history mean they’re rarely seen. Many entomologists describe them as one of the strangest insect orders.
🔗 buff.ly/U7pmiwX
Day 24 of #InsectAdvent and the flying reindeer have arrived!
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 24, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Day 24 of #InsectAdvent and the flying reindeer have arrived!
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Day 23 of #InsectAdvent
As the angels spread their wings, so do the flies. Rhamphomyia marginata (Empididae) are found across Europe & unusually for animals, it is the females that form the flirty swarms. Maybe not such angelic behaviour 😉
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
As the angels spread their wings, so do the flies. Rhamphomyia marginata (Empididae) are found across Europe & unusually for animals, it is the females that form the flirty swarms. Maybe not such angelic behaviour 😉
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 23, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Day 23 of #InsectAdvent
As the angels spread their wings, so do the flies. Rhamphomyia marginata (Empididae) are found across Europe & unusually for animals, it is the females that form the flirty swarms. Maybe not such angelic behaviour 😉
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
As the angels spread their wings, so do the flies. Rhamphomyia marginata (Empididae) are found across Europe & unusually for animals, it is the females that form the flirty swarms. Maybe not such angelic behaviour 😉
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 23 features jumping #Bristletails!
#Archaeognatha (or #Microcoryphia) are primitive, wingless insects and can leap 30mm to escape predators by flexing their abdomen. They feed mostly on algae, lichens or decaying plant material.
🔗
#Archaeognatha (or #Microcoryphia) are primitive, wingless insects and can leap 30mm to escape predators by flexing their abdomen. They feed mostly on algae, lichens or decaying plant material.
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Classification of Insects - Archaeognatha
Jumping bristletail, Dilta sp. (c) Tim Jonas 2023
buff.ly
December 23, 2025 at 8:01 AM
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 23 features jumping #Bristletails!
#Archaeognatha (or #Microcoryphia) are primitive, wingless insects and can leap 30mm to escape predators by flexing their abdomen. They feed mostly on algae, lichens or decaying plant material.
🔗
#Archaeognatha (or #Microcoryphia) are primitive, wingless insects and can leap 30mm to escape predators by flexing their abdomen. They feed mostly on algae, lichens or decaying plant material.
🔗
Day 21 of #InsectAdvent
Christmas is a time of over-eating. But we're not the biggest feasters. Hermetia illucens (Black-Soldier fly) larvae are capable of eating up to 2x its own body mass in food per day - the best bio recyclers consuming our waste
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Christmas is a time of over-eating. But we're not the biggest feasters. Hermetia illucens (Black-Soldier fly) larvae are capable of eating up to 2x its own body mass in food per day - the best bio recyclers consuming our waste
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Day 21 of #InsectAdvent
Christmas is a time of over-eating. But we're not the biggest feasters. Hermetia illucens (Black-Soldier fly) larvae are capable of eating up to 2x its own body mass in food per day - the best bio recyclers consuming our waste
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Christmas is a time of over-eating. But we're not the biggest feasters. Hermetia illucens (Black-Soldier fly) larvae are capable of eating up to 2x its own body mass in food per day - the best bio recyclers consuming our waste
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
🎄 It's #InsectAdvent day for #Zygentoma!
These shiny creatures thrive in damp spots feeding on starchy materials or detritus, showing that even the most humble insects play unique ecological roles.
#FunFact: #Silverfish have existed for over 400 million years.
🔗
These shiny creatures thrive in damp spots feeding on starchy materials or detritus, showing that even the most humble insects play unique ecological roles.
#FunFact: #Silverfish have existed for over 400 million years.
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Classification of Insects - Zygentoma
A pair of Silverfish, Lepismatidae (c) Frank Ashwood 2023
buff.ly
December 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM
🎄 It's #InsectAdvent day for #Zygentoma!
These shiny creatures thrive in damp spots feeding on starchy materials or detritus, showing that even the most humble insects play unique ecological roles.
#FunFact: #Silverfish have existed for over 400 million years.
🔗
These shiny creatures thrive in damp spots feeding on starchy materials or detritus, showing that even the most humble insects play unique ecological roles.
#FunFact: #Silverfish have existed for over 400 million years.
🔗
Day 20 of #InsectAdvent
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 21, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Day 20 of #InsectAdvent
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
🎄 Today's #InsectAdvent spotlight: #Embioptera 🕸️
Mostly found in warmer regions, #Webspinners illustrate how even small, secretive insects can carve out highly specialised lifestyles.
#FunFact: These are the only insects with silk glands in their front legs 🕸️
🔗 buff.ly/JHeTfEX
Mostly found in warmer regions, #Webspinners illustrate how even small, secretive insects can carve out highly specialised lifestyles.
#FunFact: These are the only insects with silk glands in their front legs 🕸️
🔗 buff.ly/JHeTfEX
Classification of Insects - Embioptera
Embioptera (c) CSIRO
www.royensoc.co.uk
December 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM
🎄 Today's #InsectAdvent spotlight: #Embioptera 🕸️
Mostly found in warmer regions, #Webspinners illustrate how even small, secretive insects can carve out highly specialised lifestyles.
#FunFact: These are the only insects with silk glands in their front legs 🕸️
🔗 buff.ly/JHeTfEX
Mostly found in warmer regions, #Webspinners illustrate how even small, secretive insects can carve out highly specialised lifestyles.
#FunFact: These are the only insects with silk glands in their front legs 🕸️
🔗 buff.ly/JHeTfEX
Day 19 of #InsectAdvent
Santa has a sac full of presents, so does Villa cingulata but hers is full of sand. Her sac is at the end of her abdomen & here she is twerking to get the sand to coat her eggs (on exit) to prevent desiccation - cool mum 😎
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Santa has a sac full of presents, so does Villa cingulata but hers is full of sand. Her sac is at the end of her abdomen & here she is twerking to get the sand to coat her eggs (on exit) to prevent desiccation - cool mum 😎
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 20, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Day 19 of #InsectAdvent
Santa has a sac full of presents, so does Villa cingulata but hers is full of sand. Her sac is at the end of her abdomen & here she is twerking to get the sand to coat her eggs (on exit) to prevent desiccation - cool mum 😎
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Santa has a sac full of presents, so does Villa cingulata but hers is full of sand. Her sac is at the end of her abdomen & here she is twerking to get the sand to coat her eggs (on exit) to prevent desiccation - cool mum 😎
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 20 goes to #fleas - #Siphonaptera are highly specialised wingless ectoparasites.
With around 2,600 species worldwide (62 in Britain), fleas show that even the smallest insects can have a massive impact on ecosystems and humankind.
🔗
With around 2,600 species worldwide (62 in Britain), fleas show that even the smallest insects can have a massive impact on ecosystems and humankind.
🔗
Classification of Insects - Siphonaptera
Prepared specimen of Achaeopsylla erinacei Hedgehog flea (c) Peter Barnard
buff.ly
December 20, 2025 at 10:01 AM
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 20 goes to #fleas - #Siphonaptera are highly specialised wingless ectoparasites.
With around 2,600 species worldwide (62 in Britain), fleas show that even the smallest insects can have a massive impact on ecosystems and humankind.
🔗
With around 2,600 species worldwide (62 in Britain), fleas show that even the smallest insects can have a massive impact on ecosystems and humankind.
🔗
Day 18 of #InsectAdvent - LET IT SNOW
Chionea (Limoniidae) are a genus of wingless craneflies commonly called Snow flies (not found in UK but 'strongly suspected' that they are here...). Adults can be seen scuttling across the snow in the winter
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Chionea (Limoniidae) are a genus of wingless craneflies commonly called Snow flies (not found in UK but 'strongly suspected' that they are here...). Adults can be seen scuttling across the snow in the winter
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Day 18 of #InsectAdvent - LET IT SNOW
Chionea (Limoniidae) are a genus of wingless craneflies commonly called Snow flies (not found in UK but 'strongly suspected' that they are here...). Adults can be seen scuttling across the snow in the winter
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Chionea (Limoniidae) are a genus of wingless craneflies commonly called Snow flies (not found in UK but 'strongly suspected' that they are here...). Adults can be seen scuttling across the snow in the winter
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
🎄 Caddisflies take Day 19 of #InsectAdvent.
#Trichoptera are nature’s tiny architects, building homes from silk, twigs, stones & leaves. They stabilise riverbeds, support food webs & monitor water quality 🌊
#FunFact: Their cases inspire jewellery by artist Hubert Duprat ✨🔽
#Trichoptera are nature’s tiny architects, building homes from silk, twigs, stones & leaves. They stabilise riverbeds, support food webs & monitor water quality 🌊
#FunFact: Their cases inspire jewellery by artist Hubert Duprat ✨🔽
Classification of Insects - Trichoptera
Mottled Sedge caddisfly larvae (Glyphotaelius pellucidus) (c) Tim Jonas 2023
buff.ly
December 19, 2025 at 9:01 AM
🎄 Caddisflies take Day 19 of #InsectAdvent.
#Trichoptera are nature’s tiny architects, building homes from silk, twigs, stones & leaves. They stabilise riverbeds, support food webs & monitor water quality 🌊
#FunFact: Their cases inspire jewellery by artist Hubert Duprat ✨🔽
#Trichoptera are nature’s tiny architects, building homes from silk, twigs, stones & leaves. They stabilise riverbeds, support food webs & monitor water quality 🌊
#FunFact: Their cases inspire jewellery by artist Hubert Duprat ✨🔽
Day 17 of #InsectAdvent.. Big day is almost upon us. Have you hung your baubles yet?
What about this specimen belonging to the most bauble of flies Celyphidae (beetle flies or beetle-backed flies). Mostly metallic with their enlarged scutellum grown over their abdomen
@royentsoc.bsky.social
What about this specimen belonging to the most bauble of flies Celyphidae (beetle flies or beetle-backed flies). Mostly metallic with their enlarged scutellum grown over their abdomen
@royentsoc.bsky.social
December 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Day 17 of #InsectAdvent.. Big day is almost upon us. Have you hung your baubles yet?
What about this specimen belonging to the most bauble of flies Celyphidae (beetle flies or beetle-backed flies). Mostly metallic with their enlarged scutellum grown over their abdomen
@royentsoc.bsky.social
What about this specimen belonging to the most bauble of flies Celyphidae (beetle flies or beetle-backed flies). Mostly metallic with their enlarged scutellum grown over their abdomen
@royentsoc.bsky.social
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 18 is for #Raphidioptera - #Snakeflies get their name from a long, slender “neck” 🐍 These predators' larvae often live under bark or leaf litter & adults hunt in tree canopies.
#FunFact: Raphidioptera have ancestors dating back over 140 million years.
🔗
#FunFact: Raphidioptera have ancestors dating back over 140 million years.
🔗
Classification of Insects - Raphidioptera
Phaeostigma major (c) Richard Bartz
buff.ly
December 18, 2025 at 8:01 AM
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 18 is for #Raphidioptera - #Snakeflies get their name from a long, slender “neck” 🐍 These predators' larvae often live under bark or leaf litter & adults hunt in tree canopies.
#FunFact: Raphidioptera have ancestors dating back over 140 million years.
🔗
#FunFact: Raphidioptera have ancestors dating back over 140 million years.
🔗
Day 16 #InsectAdvent
The Nativity story is set in a stables in Bethlehem where the People were surrounded by animals, not all of them welcome. The stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (Muscidae) gives the gift of a painful 'bite' to all attending mammals
@dipterists.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social
The Nativity story is set in a stables in Bethlehem where the People were surrounded by animals, not all of them welcome. The stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (Muscidae) gives the gift of a painful 'bite' to all attending mammals
@dipterists.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Day 16 #InsectAdvent
The Nativity story is set in a stables in Bethlehem where the People were surrounded by animals, not all of them welcome. The stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (Muscidae) gives the gift of a painful 'bite' to all attending mammals
@dipterists.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social
The Nativity story is set in a stables in Bethlehem where the People were surrounded by animals, not all of them welcome. The stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (Muscidae) gives the gift of a painful 'bite' to all attending mammals
@dipterists.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social
🎄 Day 17 of #InsectAdvent - #Lacewings & #antlions.
#Neuroptera are a diverse order. Their larvae, and often adults, are predatory, making them excellent pest control for gardens & crops.
#FunFact: Antlion larvae dig conical pit-traps in sandy soil to catch prey.
🔗
#Neuroptera are a diverse order. Their larvae, and often adults, are predatory, making them excellent pest control for gardens & crops.
#FunFact: Antlion larvae dig conical pit-traps in sandy soil to catch prey.
🔗
Classification of Insects - Neuroptera
Junk Bug, Lacewing larva (Chrysopa sp.) (c) Rosa Dunbar 2023
buff.ly
December 17, 2025 at 10:02 AM
🎄 Day 17 of #InsectAdvent - #Lacewings & #antlions.
#Neuroptera are a diverse order. Their larvae, and often adults, are predatory, making them excellent pest control for gardens & crops.
#FunFact: Antlion larvae dig conical pit-traps in sandy soil to catch prey.
🔗
#Neuroptera are a diverse order. Their larvae, and often adults, are predatory, making them excellent pest control for gardens & crops.
#FunFact: Antlion larvae dig conical pit-traps in sandy soil to catch prey.
🔗
Day 15 #InsectAdvent
And even the flies are getting festive. Sporting massive antlers akin to Moose or Reindeer, Phytalmia sp (Tephritidae) males, will use them to fight for their right.......to PARTY (with the opposite sex...)
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
And even the flies are getting festive. Sporting massive antlers akin to Moose or Reindeer, Phytalmia sp (Tephritidae) males, will use them to fight for their right.......to PARTY (with the opposite sex...)
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 16, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Day 15 #InsectAdvent
And even the flies are getting festive. Sporting massive antlers akin to Moose or Reindeer, Phytalmia sp (Tephritidae) males, will use them to fight for their right.......to PARTY (with the opposite sex...)
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
And even the flies are getting festive. Sporting massive antlers akin to Moose or Reindeer, Phytalmia sp (Tephritidae) males, will use them to fight for their right.......to PARTY (with the opposite sex...)
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 16 is for the tiny but mighty #Thysanoptera, pollinators, herbivores & important ecological players.
#FunFact: #Thrips are tiny - 1–3 mm long. Many feed on plants or fungi, & are much more ecologically diverse than their size suggests.
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#FunFact: #Thrips are tiny - 1–3 mm long. Many feed on plants or fungi, & are much more ecologically diverse than their size suggests.
🔗
Classification of Insects - Thysanoptera
Microscope slide preparation of thrips (c) Luis Fernandez Garcia
buff.ly
December 16, 2025 at 10:01 AM
🎄 #InsectAdvent Day 16 is for the tiny but mighty #Thysanoptera, pollinators, herbivores & important ecological players.
#FunFact: #Thrips are tiny - 1–3 mm long. Many feed on plants or fungi, & are much more ecologically diverse than their size suggests.
🔗
#FunFact: #Thrips are tiny - 1–3 mm long. Many feed on plants or fungi, & are much more ecologically diverse than their size suggests.
🔗
Day 14 #InsectAdvent & Christmas cards are being sent/ received
Can you imagine having to write a card to this soldierfly - Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides. It has the longest name in the Animal Kingdom. Luckily the address is short..
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Can you imagine having to write a card to this soldierfly - Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides. It has the longest name in the Animal Kingdom. Luckily the address is short..
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Day 14 #InsectAdvent & Christmas cards are being sent/ received
Can you imagine having to write a card to this soldierfly - Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides. It has the longest name in the Animal Kingdom. Luckily the address is short..
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Can you imagine having to write a card to this soldierfly - Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides. It has the longest name in the Animal Kingdom. Luckily the address is short..
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
🎄 Day 15 of #InsectAdvent appreciates #Alderflies - #Megaloptera are a small but fascinating insect order with roughly 330 known species worldwide (3 in Britain), whose larvae live in freshwater streams and rivers.
Learn more about alderflies 🔽
🔗
Learn more about alderflies 🔽
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Classification of Insects - Megaloptera
Alder Fly (Sialis lutaria) (c) Genevieve Kiero-Watson 2016
buff.ly
December 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
🎄 Day 15 of #InsectAdvent appreciates #Alderflies - #Megaloptera are a small but fascinating insect order with roughly 330 known species worldwide (3 in Britain), whose larvae live in freshwater streams and rivers.
Learn more about alderflies 🔽
🔗
Learn more about alderflies 🔽
🔗