David Bradley's Sciencebase

The Small Mottled Willow, Spodoptera exigua, is a species of moth in the family Noctuidae. Its larvae are highly polyphagous, feeding on a wide variety of herbaceous plants, including both wild and cultivated species. The larvae can cause significant crop damage under favourable conditions, particularly in intensive agricultural systems, and the species is therefore regarded as an important pest in many parts of the world. Small Mottled Willow on a log. Unusually its forewings are not curled…

A member of our Wild Fen Edge Whatsapp group alerted members to the presence of Wasp Spiders in one of our local nature reserves, specifically on the edge of the small woodland adjacent to Wort’s Meadow in Landbeach, Cambs. It’s 8 years since I last saw a Wasp Spider, Argiope bruennichi, and that was at RSPB Lakenheath. So, I thought I’d take a look. View of the upperside of the Wasp Spider’s abdomen showing its waspish pattern; photo also shows the web’s zig-zag stabilimentum The WFE member…

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A leading agronomist and conservation expert has proposed a major overhaul of England’s approach to agricultural environmental management. He argues that biodiversity recovery and productive farming can be achieved together. The proposal recommends tighter controls on pesticide use, improved monitoring, and more targeted conservation funding. The recommendations come from Simon Ward of Increment Ltd, a Cambridge-based company that provides a wide range of expertise to the rural sector. Ward…

There are some species of moth where most of the members of the genus look almost identical in the adult form. When they’re larvae, it’s usually easy to tell which you are looking at as they feed on a particular plant specific to their species, but not always, Moreover, the larvae themselves may be distinctive. But, if you only have the adult, then they require a specialist kind of examination known as gen det, which you can find more about in my mothing glossary or if their genome is known,…

My second retrospective of original songs – Written on the Water – is now available to buy on CD as well as to stream and download via BandCamp. Find out more about the album and its conception here and here.

Coming up with a decent setlist for a live performance is quite the juggling act, you need to get an audience warmed up as soon as you can, but you don’t want to go too hard when you start, otherwise there’s no lift. You need to create a kind of narrative arc, in the words of scriptwriters, to draw them in, excite them a little, getting them nodding along and applauding, then within a few songs have them dancing and take them to a big climactic finale, with, hopefully, a final burst in an…

The Norfolk Broads is the only place you are likely to see native Swallowtail butterflies in the UK today. There has, for many years, been a suggestion that it is distinct from its various European counterparts. A paper from Nabholz et al. discusses the genetics of this wonderful creature. Co-author Mark Collins (erstwhile President of the Swallowtail and Birdwing Butterfly Trust) tells me the main conclusion is that “We have confirmed beyond doubt the clear separation of our British…

After I light up, mothically speaking, I usually have a scout about the garden for moths that are activating as it gets dark but not necessarily heading for the trap. I almost stepped on a Pipistrelle bat swooping low to grab one of the little creatures. I got to the ivy at the back of the garden and spotted a Yellow Shell and a couple of Least Carpet nectaring on the nearby wild ragwort. Then, a dark moth was caught in the torchlight. I managed to pot him as he landed, turned out it was a…

Caddisflies are a little bit like moths, but without the scales on their wings. They’re the Trichoptera, which means hairy or bristly-winged rather than the scaly wings of the Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. And these two groups share an ancient common ancestor dating back to around 300 million years ago, a time before flowering plants when the trees that lived in that era would ultimately become the coal we mine today. It would be another 70 million years before the first dinosaurs…

I had a puzzling micro moth in the UV trap a couple of nights ago. It was about 8-9mm long, grey with some well-defined black markings. And, as it was walking about in the moth pot, it did so with its forewings splayed. Very odd. My first thought was that it was perhaps an aberrant Nettle-tap, it had that kind of demeanour, but the colour and the markings were wrong. ObsID was no help. Depending on which phone snap I used, it would tell me a different species every time. I think I had a choice…

My first Buff Arches moth in several years. Once it settled it was rather obliging for the photo shoot. Buff Arches moth with its wings open, resting on a stone As many Sciencebase regulars will know, when this exquisite moth tents its wings it looks very peculiar, almost as if there’s a smooth area where a chunk is missing. The early naturalists called it Habrosyne pyritoides, the species component of which alludes to it resembling a chunk of “iron pyrites”. The Habrosyne genus name roughly…

TL;DR: Mothing is the activity/hobby of observing, recording, and photographing moths. You don’t need expensive equipment, specialist knowledge, or a massive garden to start—just curiosity. If you are interested in wildlife, photography, natural history, or citizen science, mothing is one of the most accessible and rewarding activities you can take up. Robinson moth trap with UV/fluorescent tube Most “moth-ers” use harmless light traps to safely attract moths at night, allowing them to be…

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The Miller and the Dagger moths are ostensibly very similar. Triangular, noctuid (owlet) moths with grey wings with black markings. In th my picture the Dagger is the upper moth. It’s very, very difficult to know with out gen det (genital dissection), larval history, or DNA analysis whether its one of two species – Dark (Acronicta tridens) or Grey Dagger (A. psi). The Miller (A. leporina) is very similar although markedly different when looked at closely. Top: The Dagger at the Edge of Night…

When I first started writing and recording songs, I had a problem that most songwriters know well. You hear something in your head. Not just the words and melody. Not just the chords. You hear the atmosphere, the texture, the arrangement, the emotional weight of it. You hear the finished thing. Then reality intervenes. You have your instruments, your voice, your skills. Somewhere between that complete musical feast in your head and the finished recording, you have to make compromises and accept…

Opening this morning’s moth trap, there were a fair few moths, 80 or so of some 33 species. Of which 29 of those were Heart & Dart. It had been wet night, but 15 C minimum, so not cold. Small Mottled Willow, Spodoptera exigua, also known as the Beet Armyworm, new for our garden There were very few clipped wings lying around the trap, thankfully, but one I did find was of the lovely Lilac Beauty, which had, despite its leafy appearance, been identified as edible by the Great Tit that has learnt…

The Scarce Chaser, Libellula fulva, is a medium-sized dragonfly (about 40 to 50 mm long). The adults begin to emerge in late May. Both sexes feature dark wing bases and often distinct black wing tips. The males, however, have vibrant blue eyes and a powder-blue body that ends with a black tip on the tail. Whereas the females have brown eyes and an ochre-orange body marked with a line of dark triangles running down the centre of the abdomen. Female Scarce Chaser This species is found locally…

13 May – Drive to Poole 14 May – Upton Country Park 15 May – Brownsea Island – no Red Squirrels Whimbrel in flight, Brownsea Island 16 May -Cold Spring Safari with Birds of Poole Harbour and then to Corfe Castle An indifferent Black-tailed Godwit alongside mating Common Terns with otherwise-engaged Sandwich Terns behind Juvenile Shag resting on a buoy in Poole Harbour

Asbestos, a group of silicate minerals, is well known as a fire-resistant building material that saved millions of lives (protecting buildings and allowing us to slow our vehicles quickly!). But its reputation is completely tarnished by the fact that this fibrous mineral gets into the lung and causes several lethal diseases. I interviewed a specialist years ago who told me that every single person in the world has at least a million asbestos fibres in their lungs, but the risk of developing…

I had a rather rare moth in the moth trap last night. An Eastern Bordered Straw, Heliothis nubigera. This species is known only as a rare immigrant species that first turned up in the UK in 1958, according to the UK Moths site. Just three were recorded that May and lepidopterists noted that they were part of a larger irruption into Europe. The site goes on to say that there were no more sightings until a single specimen was seen in 1992 and another in 1999. But, in the summer of 2006 there was…

We made the second annual trip with my birding friend Al to RSPB Titchwell and Snettisham. It was cooler than previous days and windy and a quite cloudy morning. We saw some, but not all of the usual suspects, but there were a couple of distant Spoonbill, which redeemed things a little and after lunch as the sun came out we once again caught up with the Spotted Flycatcher there. Spotted Flycatcher Spoonbill Ringed Plover Talk of Turtle Doves at the Snettisham “Country Park” and we set off that…

I’ve mentioned previously how I am creating “wild” patches in our front and back gardens to augment the presence of our wildlife pond. At the moment, the front is under the regime of NoMowSummer, not just NoMowMay (which helps nothing). Leaving it to go wild for the full summer means that all the invertebrates that are attracted early on by the wildflowers that emerge can benefit across their full lifecycle into the autumn. Soft-brome grass growing wild in our lawn, this seedhead has yellow…

Welcome to the Wild Fen Edge! I’ve rebooted my old wildlife project as a WhatsApp group it’s still called Wild Fen Edge and it’s the place to share your sightings of wildlife, ask questions, get IDs and more if you’re in the local area we known as the Fen Edge Patch. The Fen Edge Patch is centred on Cottenham and includes the nearby villages of Rampton and Willingham, Landbeach and Waterbeach. I’ve also co-opted Histon, which isn’t technically in the patch, but has at least one nature reserve…

So many species are on the decline because of urbanisation, intensive agriculture, and, of course, climate change. Yet some are taking advantage of the new conditions. A butterfly is redrawing the map of Britain with little fanfare. A couple of observers spot something unusual at the edge of a field, others check-in a few days later and see the same species, and suddenly a butterfly that in the post-industrial world seemed limited in its range, is now finding new territory in the margins. The…

Original post – 24 Feb 2026, updating date to keep it in my blog menu recents list Peacock – 23rd Feb Brimstone – 24th Feb Small Tortoiseshell – 25th Feb Holly Blue – 10th March Comma – 19th March Small White – 30th March Green-veined White – 5th April Orange Tip – 8th April Speckled Wood – 8th April Red Admiral – 23rd April Large White – 23rd April Common Blue – 3rd May Painted Lady – 3rd May Our first butterflies of the year appeared on 23rd February, a Peacock, in our garden. On the 24th,…

Mrs Sciencebase and I were pleased to finally see Water Voles (five of them, as it happens, all adults, we reckon) at RSPB Fowlmere. They were feeding on water cress in the chalk stream, known as The Shep, that runs through the reserve. Previously, I’ve only caught glimpses of this species elsewhere and once watched a Grey Heron gulp one down whole! Could a Water Vole look any more coy? The European Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius) is the character Ratty of Wind in the Willows fame. Watching…

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are everywhere, generated by power lines, mobile phones, Wi-Fi routers, and countless other technologies. This ubiquity has led to a persistent question: could non-ionising EMFs increase cancer risk? To answer that, it helps to start with some basic physics. Radiation exists on a spectrum. At the high-energy end is ionising radiation (like X-rays and gamma rays), which carries enough energy per photon to ionise molecules, break chemical bonds, and directly damage…

Now, the Common Nightingale, as the name suggests, is quite active at night, but they do sing during the day too, but it isn’t at all common in England despite the first bit of its name. It’s a migrant species that occurs in East Anglia and the South East of England. The first place I’d heard them here was on the heathland of the Suffolk coast, during a camping trip many years ago, and then more recently on Westleton Heath, not far from NT Dunwich Heath, RSPB Minsmere, and Sizewell nuclear…

Excire sent me a copy of their software, Excire Foto, for review. I’d been looking for a decent way to sort through more than two decades’ worth of digital photos. Other programmes that came up in my search seemed to fall short of what I needed—either that or they required a monthly subscription, which I’m always loath to pay. Excire is a one-off payment and seems to do pretty much all I need. Excire Foto search of my archives for “bird in flight against a blue sky”, very accurate results, and…