What's visiting the sites?
Embedded Files
What can you see on this site?
Here’s a few of the more common species, but this is absolutely not the full list! I’ve included some links to good identification sources as well. You can share what you find on our social media pages!
Hoverflies
Although these are sometimes mistaken for bees or wasps, hoverflies are in fact a group of flies, often brightly coloured. Although they don’t have stings, by mimicking bees or wasps they can protect themselves from predators.
There are about 280 species of hoverfly in the UK, but go to this page for some of the more common and distinctive ones:
Photo: Alvesgaspar CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia
Photo: Charles J. Sharp CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia
Photo: Charles J. Sharp CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia
Butterflies and moths
There are about 57 species of butterfly in the UK, but over a whopping 2500 moths! Although most moths are nocturnal, you might see some day-flying ones out and about. If you do want to see nocturnal moths you can make a trap in your garden:
https://butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area/east-scotland-branch/budget-bucket-moth-trap,
or even just hang up a sheet with a light behind it: https://www.lancswt.org.uk/blog/charlotte-varela/moth-trapping-beginners
Here are a few common, easy-to-spot butterfly and day-flying moth species:
Bees
Although we tend to just notice the colony-dwelling bumblebees and honeybees, did you know there are around 250 solitary bee species in the UK? These live in burrows in the ground, trees, walls and even in snail shells!
Here are some of the more common species of social and solitary bees:
Photo: Ivar Leidus CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia
Page updated
Report abuse