Design with bees on reverse, part of collection inspired by plants and animals, was voted people’s favourite
The first £1 coin bearing the official portrait of King Charles III has entered general circulation as part of a collection inspired by plants and animals found across the four nations of the United Kingdom.
The latest design, featuring two bees, has been issued to Post Offices and banks, with nearly 3m coins making their way into tills and pockets.
Continue reading...Appearance of dark crimson underwing causes excitement on land that would be bisected by road scheme
Beneath oak canopies, in an orchard full of hundred-year-old apple trees, excited exclamations rose from a group of moth enthusiasts last week.
The Cambridgeshire Moth Group had just trapped a dark crimson underwing, a species so rare that none of them had ever seen it before. Indeed, the colourful invertebrate is only usually ever found in the New Forest and is considered nationally scarce.
Continue reading...Project to study all 11,000 species of butterflies and moths finds ‘two species in the act of being created from one’
The chalkhill blue has some surprising claims to fame. For a start, it is one of the UK’s most beautiful butterflies, as can be seen as they flutter above the grasslands of southern England in summer.
Then there is their close and unusual relationship with ants. Caterpillars of Lysandra coridon – found across Europe – exude a type of honeydew that is milked by ants and provides them with energy. In return, they are given protection in cells below ground especially created for them by the ants. Chalkhill blues thrive as a result, though their numbers are now coming under threat.
Continue reading...Gardeners and pest controllers say wasps, important predators and pollinators, appear to be in sharp decline
The UK is not doing enough to track wasp populations as numbers appear to plummet, a leading expert has warned.
While there were national monitoring schemes for some invertebrates, including bees and butterflies, there was no such programme in place for wasps, said Dr Gavin Broad, principal curator of wasps at the Natural History Museum.
Continue reading...Black soldier flies could help cut planet-warming methane produced when organic waste breaks down, Macquarie University team says
A team of Australian scientists is genetically engineering a common fly species so that it can eat more of humanity’s organic waste while producing ingredients for making everything from lubricants and biofuels to high-grade animal feeds.
Black soldier flies are already being used commercially to consume organic waste, including food waste, but tweaking their genetics could widen the range of waste their larvae consume while, in the process, producing fatty compounds and enzymes.
Continue reading...Stings from the critters invading Montecito can be painful, can displace native wildlife and are a hazard to agriculture
A tony town in California’s central coast where celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Prince Harry have bought properties, has become a hot spot for another reason: an active infestation of red imported fire ants.
The Santa Barbara county agricultural commissioner’s office is addressing an active infestation of these ants in Montecito, California, according to a statement issued last week.
Continue reading...Tourist hotspots including Ullapool and Fort William badly hit as biting insects enjoy damp, humid conditions
Scotland’s wet summer is providing perfect conditions for surges of midges, with experts saying worse is yet to come.
This week the Scottish Midge Forecast predicted high numbers of the biting insects, reaching peaks of four and five on a scale of one to five.
Continue reading...More plans afoot for compostable food use, says head gardener, as tournament commits to wildlife ‘net gain’ by 2030
Rain or shine – usually more of the former – Wimbledon’s stunning floral displays always manage to dazzle.
For those hoping to give their gardens an SW19-inspired transformation, the tournament’s secret has finally been revealed: coffee grounds from the staff room.
Continue reading...RHS reports 35% surge in orders, while garden designers note pond trend at Hampton Court Palace flower show
A pond boom is happening in Britain’s gardens as people try to halt wildlife loss by digging water sources for amphibians and other aquatic life.
Data from the Royal Horticultural Society shows a marked increase in sales of pond greenery; their online store had a 35% increase in sales of pond plants for 2023 compared with 2022.
Continue reading...Analysis of 60o gardens shows wilder lawns feed caterpillars and create breeding habitat
Good news for lazy gardeners: one labour-saving tweak could almost double the number of butterflies in your garden, according to a new scientific study – let the grass grow long.
In recent years nature lovers have been extolling the benefits of relaxed lawn maintenance with the growing popularity of the #NoMowMay campaign. Now an analysis of six years of butterfly sightings across 600 British gardens has provided the first scientific evidence that wilder lawns boost butterfly numbers.
Continue reading...Monitoring station detects predatory species using artificial intelligence and sends alert so nests can be traced
An early warning system designed to track and trace predatory Asian hornets using artificial intelligence has been unveiled by experts from a British university.
Researchers from the University of Exeter have invented a system that draws hornets to a monitoring station. They land on a sponge cloth impregnated with food and an overhead camera captures images.
Continue reading...Fipronil is banned for use on crops in the EU, China, Vietnam and California
A “wildly toxic” chemical used to combat fire ants and the varroa mite in Australia is banned in Europe and harmful to humans – and it is poisoning waterways and killing native fauna, experts warn.
Fipronil acts as an insect nerve agent and is banned for use on crops in the EU, China, Vietnam and California because of its effect on pollinators. The insecticide was used in sugar baits across New South Wales in the now abandoned fight against the invasive varroa mite and has been injected into 35,539 fire ant nests in south-east Queensland and northern NSW since January 2023 as part of the national red imported fire ant eradication program.
Continue reading...Invasive species could be worse than rabbits, cane toads, foxes, camels, wild dogs and feral cats combined, committee hears
A Senate inquiry into the spread of fire ants in Australia has heard that the government program tasked with their elimination is an “absolute shambles” and that an independent eradication body is urgently needed.
The highly invasive insect is believed to have entered Australia in the 1990s and was discovered at Brisbane port in 2001. A program spanning state, territory and federal governments was created to eradicate red imported fire ants and it has received more than $1.2bn of federal and state funding. Of that, $593m covers 2023 to 2027.
Continue reading...British producers to back EU’s proposed regulations to stop trade in adulterated honey
Britain’s beekeepers are backing proposed new rules to combat fraud in the supply chain, ensuring a jar of honey can be traced on its journey of up to 5,000 miles from the beehive to the shop shelf.
The European parliament has agreed new labelling rules and a project to establish a traceability system for honey from harvesting to the consumer. The proposed rules are part of an overhaul of the “breakfast directives”, including the honey directive.
Continue reading...Experts say the endangered insect numbers fell by 59% this year, blaming pesticide use and climate change for the reduction
The number of endangered monarch butterflies at their wintering areas in Mexico has dropped by 59% this year to the second lowest level since record keeping began, experts said, blaming pesticide use and climate change.
The annual butterfly count doesn’t calculate the individual number of butterflies, but rather the number of hectares they cover when they clump together on tree branches in the mountain pine and fir forests west of Mexico City. Monarchs from east of the Rocky Mountains in the US and Canada overwinter there.
Continue reading...Nutrinsect defies Italian food purists with cricket flour that can be incorporated into range of foods
A company that produces flour made from crickets has become the first in Italy to be given the green light to sell food made from insects for human consumption, defying Italian food purists and even a government attempt to curb its use.
Josè Francesco Cianni, the chief executive of Nutrinsect, said: “a new page in the history of food has been opened” now that his nutrient-packed flour can be incorporated into an array of food items.
Continue reading...Inquiry into invasive pest hears of risks species poses to health, agriculture and environment if it becomes endemic
Fire ants could sting 8.6 million Australians a year if they were to become endemic – but a pathogenic fungus and pesticide-loaded drones might help avert that scenario, according to submissions posed to the federal government’s fire ants inquiry.
Submissions to the Senate inquiry into red imported fire ants (Rifa) in Australia closed on Monday, just days after the latest in a string of fire ant detections beyond south-east Queensland, where an infestation of the invasive pest is ongoing.
Continue reading...NSW authorities are working to determine how long the pest has been in the area and how they arrived
Invasive fire ants are continuing their march south, prompting a plea for vigilance, after a nest was detected at Wardell, south of Byron Bay, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries says.
A gardener raised the alarm on Friday after disturbing the nest and being bitten, suffering what was described as blistering pain.
Continue reading...Experts say short-term frustration for car buyers is preferable to the risk of a biosecurity breach
Australia has missed a major electric vehicle milestone partly thanks to an unexpected bug in the system.
Sales of low-emission vehicles had been tipped to top 100,000 for the first time in 2023.
Continue reading...National Trust gave long list of species that have suffered in the past year
The disappearance of reliable seasonal patterns is causing chaos for the flora and fauna of the UK, a long-running annual audit of the impact of weather on nature has found.
Extreme weather events, from storms and pounding rain to searing heat and drought are putting huge pressure on animals, plants and the environment, the report from the National Trust says.
Continue reading...