THIS POST IS ABOUT BUGS FROM BUGLIFE

browser Dear John Welcome to the August edition of Buglife's e-newsletter, BugBytes! Keeping you up to date with invertebrate news, interesting snippets of information and so much more. This month we’re sharing some more great events, some fundraising opportunities, a quick look at some of our recent saving sites and campaign work and some interesting news stories from across the Buglife Team. We hope you enjoy, thank you for your ongoing interest and support of our work. Save Arena Essex - Tell Google to search elsewhere! August has seen Buglife calling for the tech giant Google to find a new site for a proposed data centre campus in South Essex. The call comes as plans for a sprawling development on a special Local Wildlife Site have come forward – putting the future of its nationally important invertebrate populations at risk. Read the full story… Our petition, launched at the beginning of August, has already been signed by more than 25,000 individuals, to date. This was swiftly followed by a letter to Google UK Managing Director, Kate Alessi, expressing our concerns about the proposals put forward by the Google-associated ‘Global Infrastructure UK Limited’. The 52 hectares of Arena Essex are home to hundreds of species of invertebrates, including Brown-banded Carder Bee (Bombus humilis), Five-banded Weevil-wasp (Cerceris quinquefasciata) and the Dingy Skipper butterfly (Erynnis tages) - with many more to be found - as well as rare plants such as Endangered Broad-leaved Cudweed (Filago pyramidata) and birds such as Red Listed Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos). Brown-banded Carder Bee (Bombus humilis) © Steven Falk Brown-banded Carder Bee (Bombus humilis) © Steven Falk Five-banded Weevil-wasp (Cerceris quinquefasciata) © Mike Edwards Five-banded Weevil-wasp (Cerceris quinquefasciata) © Mike Edwards Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages) © Greg Hitchcock Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages) © Greg Hitchcock Arena Essex © Terry Joyce Arena Essex © Terry Joyce Will you help Buglife to stand up for invertebrates and tell Google to search elsewhere? Join us and tell Google: search elsewhere! ✍️ Share your views… Live or work in, or even visit, the the Dartmoor National Park? Please complete this short survey (<10 mins) to help us develop a new and exciting project, Moor Invertebrates. The focus of this project is to improve our understanding of the ecology and distribution, and safeguard eight of the priority species found in the Dartmoor Important Invertebrate Area (IIA); including the Critically Rare Bog Hoverfly and High Brown Fritillary Butterfly as well as the Near Threatened Blue Ground Beetle and Lichen Running Spider. The project will work with landowners and partners with ambitions during the delivery phase to restore 40 hectares of habitat for these species. Additional bespoke advice will be provided to landowners to enable them to undertake vital work for invertebrates on their land. We are keen to involve local people in our plans and we are therefore seeking feedback from residents and members of the local community – people such as yourself who visit or live near Dartmoor National Park or have an interest in conserving UK wildlife. If you can please answer the following questions, we would be extremely grateful. This questionnaire should take less than 10 minutes. Thank you very much for your help! Share my thoughts… a view of dartmoor national park with the words overlaid Together for insects What do you feel are the most important challenges facing insect recovery? 🐞 Insects across the UK are in crisis, with declines which are set to have far-reaching consequences for both wildlife, and people. We need to work together to fix this. We’ve joined forces with Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to create the Big Insect Rescue Plan – and we need your help to shape it. Help create the Big Insect Rescue Plan Nature Connectedness at Night Buglife has teamed up with the University of Derby to understand the impacts of night-time nature experiences on human well-being. We invite you to participate in unique citizen science events that explore the wonders of nature at night. Deepening your awareness of night-time creatures whilst also helping us understand how simple, nature-based activities at night may enhance well-being and connection to the natural world. ✅ No special knowledge or experience is required: just bring your curiosity and willingness to explore! Get me connected to the night! Are you doing One Million Steps for bugs? Monday 1 September (that’s next week!) will see us starting our One Million Steps 2025 challenge and we’re inviting you to join us! Walk, jog, run, hop or dance your way to a million steps in 100 days. That's 500 miles or the distance from London to Zurich, Switzerland BUT it's just the 10,000 average a day; or, if you need another comparator or two: Brighton to Inverness, Scotland; More than 18 marathons. It really is something to be proud of and to add a bit more incentive you could help us save the small things that run the planet by taking part and asking others to sponsor you! Go solo or sign up with friends to support each other to that finish line! Giveaway details: As a thankyou to you, our Supporters, we have a small number of FREE entries remaining to help you along your way. Just sign up via the One Million Steps website and enter the code buglife50 when asked for payment details. Get in there quick to avoid disappointment! Find out more Driftwood: the real treasure lining our beaches Join Buglife Species Recovery Officer, Laura Krusin, in our recent blog Driftwood: The real treasure lining our beaches. Laura shares the importance of driftwood to some of our rarest invertebrates, and why we really should leave it on the beach. Let’s discover how a beetle and a cricket, who inhabit our coastlines, rely on driftwood to survive! Scaly Cricket (Psuedomogoplistes vicentae) © Alex Hyde Scaly Cricket (Psuedomogoplistes vicentae) © Alex Hyde Strandline Beetle (Eurynebria complanata) © Liam Olds Strandline Beetle (Eurynebria complanata) © Liam Olds Read the blog House made of driftwood, Saunton Sands © Laura Krusin House made of driftwood, Saunton Sands © Laura Krusin Upcoming events Tuesday 2 September ~ Bumblebee Identification Workshop with Kernow Wyls (Portscatho, Cornwall) Wednesday 3 September ~ Invertebrate Study Day with The Biological Recording Company (NHM, London) Friday 12 September ~ Planet and People: Time to Join the Dots (Micro-Conference) with Planet Action Street Arts (Newcastle upon Tyne) Saturday 13 September ~ Volunteers Needed! with Pollinators Along the Tweed (Peebles, Scotland) Thursday 18 September ~ Volunteers Needed! with Pollinators Along the Tweed (Melrose, Scotland) Friday 19 September ~ The Rockpool Project – Community BioBlitz Festival 2025 (St Austell, Cornwall) Saturday 20 September ~ The Rockpool Project – Community BioBlitz Festival 2025 (St Austell, Cornwall) Tuesday 23 September ~