Pollarded ancient Oak, Quercus robur, in Petworth Deer Park. The deer herd in the Park is 500 years old, and Henry VIII hunted in the park. This Oak may have been a young Oak then

While looking at this lichen mosaic on a Beech, predominantly Lecanora Chlarotera s.l. this curious mite appeared, probably an Erythraeus sp. Very long legs!

Lava of the beetle Opilo mollis disappearing into a ‘wood worm’ hole in the dead wood of a dying but still alive ancient pollarded Oak, Quercus robur. Dying oaks in medieval deer parks are great for invertebrates.

Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus, party on Ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris, Petworth Park, West Sussex. Petworth Park has a dearth of flowering plants suitable for Butterfly nectaring, the only available forage was ragwort.

Watch out in the woods at the moment: you might get transformed into a pig. There’s lots of Enchanter's nightshade, Circaea lutetiana, around. Genus name derived from Circe, who im Homer's Odyssey turns Odysseus’ crew into swine on the island Aeaea on the way back from Troy.

Where’s Wally (the Six-Spot Burnet moth, Zygaena filipendulae) in this photo? East Sussex South Downs meadow.

Seen two this year. I was on a botanical recording day 2 years ago on Downs and when we had our lunch, sitting on the grass; one came over to explore and went up someone's trouser leg! He was as cool as a cucumber, stood up & it slithered out. Very rare behaviour for an adder. Here one I saw in May

2/2 snakeshead, starch-root, and wake-robin! In Sussex its often called Cuckoo Pint, short for pintle, Old English for male genitalia. Many names refer to the plant's appearance; "lords-and-ladies" and many other names liken the plant to male and female genitalia. It looks very different in flower:

Xavier worships The Great God Fan, to paraphrase Arthur Machen’s 1894 decadent, gothic horror novel the Great God Pan

Seemed a bit odd to find new fungal fruits in 29 degrees in a heat wave in Friston Forest, East Sussex. My provisional ID is Hymenopellis radicata, Rooting Shank, a saprobic fungus, rooting on rotten wood, as this is, and importantly one of the fungi which fruit in Summer.

1/2 Probably the hoverfly Cheilosia soror on Hogweed. Eggs laid near fungus, larvae eat fungus; adults usually nectar on umbellifers. Locally frequent in chalk districts of southern Britain especially in calcareous grassland & woodland rides. Woodland ride, in Friston Forest, South Downs.

My usual terrible photo of Humming-bird Hawk-moth, Macroglossum (whopper tongue, Greek) stellatarum in flight. Fuzzy blur. Its been a good year for Humming-bird Hawk-moth. Probably a migrant from Southern Europe/North Africa; unlikely to be an over-wintered moth born in UK as life span is 4-7 months

Six-spot Burnet moth, Zygaena filipendulae, on Ribwort Plantago lanceolata. Both very common on South Downs meadows. Exceat, East Sussex

Probably Bombus vestalis, Southern Cuckoo Bumblebee, on Wild Marjoram. They don't build their own nests, collect pollen, or raise their workers. Southern Cuckoo Queens are social parasites that invade nests of Buff-tailed bumblebees, kill the host queens & tricks the workers into raising their young

2nd brood Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, on Wild Marjoram, on woodland ride in Friston Forest, South Downs, East Sussex

Beautiful underwing of a Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui butterfly; on Wild Marjoram, Origanum vulgare; one of the gazillions I have seen in Sussex this summer. Is this a long distance migrant from North Africa; or a locally bred butterflies from migrant stock. Definitely been a "painted lady year"

2nd brood Brown Argus, Aricia agestis, on Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica, on a woodland ride in Friston Forest, East Sussex, South Downs; chalk downland is one of the Brown Argus' strongholds. 1st brood Brown Argus don't get the opportunity to nectar in Fleabane coz it only flowers from July

Gate Keeper, Pyronia tithonus, on Wild Marjoram, Origanum vulgare, along a woodland ride in Friston Forest, East Sussex

A huge abundance of Lords-and-ladies, Arum maculatum, in fruiting stage in Friston Forest, East Sussex yesterday. The intense heat seems to have produced red fruits significantly earlier than they typically ripen. A phenological event caused by global heating.

Ringlet, Aphantopus hyperantus. In a woodland ride in Friston Forest, East Sussex.

Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, on Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare; in flight from one flower to another. Woodland ride, Friston Forest, East Sussex

A symphony of yellow and red. Sheep’s Sorrel, Rumex acetosella, and a St John’s Wort, probably Perferate, Hypericum sp. prob. perforatum. At the side of a ride in Friston Forest, East Sussex.

White Admiral on the very hot bare chalk of a woodland ride through Friston Forest, East Sussex, this afternoon. I have only seen a few before, and they have all been in the shade. Next to it in the vegetated part of the ride was a Dark Green Fritillary on Field Scabious

Diploicia canescens on the lovely ancient Common Limes Tilia x europaea, planted outside Chichester Cathedral, covered in yellowish soredia AND Black apothecia (<1mm diameter) “rare except in the south, particularly near the coast”. (British Lichen Society)d

Peacock-noir, Aglais io. Dead leaf and big-eyed beast. Same individual. Ultimate camouflage and mimicry. Midhurst Common. #butterflies #camouflage #mimicry

What a whopper! Agelena labyrinthica, spotted and identified by @colinpiper55.bsky.social at Hesworth Common, West Sussex. “Agelenidae cobwebs are so strong … that in the 16th century, monks in the Austrian Alps began layering them together to create tiny canvases for religious miniatures.”

Marsh Arrowgrass, Triglochin palustris, new to me, next to Round-leaved Sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, at one of West Sussex's Greensand Lowland Heath bogs. Marsh Arrowgrass scarce in West Sussex. Its habitats are critically endangered by global heating; 31C when I saw this @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Comma, Polygonia c-album, on Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum. Midhurst Common. West Sussex

Beautiful Demoiselle, Calopteryx virgo, on Oak, Quercus robur. Stedham Common. West Sussex

Silver-studded Blue, Plebejus argus, at Stedham Common, West Sussex. I saw two there and two at Iping Common. I normally see more - I go every year - but it is a bit early in their adult flight season. A butterfly entirely of lowland heaths. A section 41 species of principal importance in England