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To begin the post I have a small entomological anecdote to share: Last summer I was told about a very small island in a Swedish lake. The island was not often visited but humans (or probably much other wildlife) because it was supposedly teeming with ants. Whilst I don’t know much about ants, this seemed a bit improbable and I wondered what they would eat.

This summer I had the opportunity to visit this island. The stories were true. My visit was brief and I should have worn different clothes. Being in a small rowing boat with ants in your pants is not fun!

I have never seen so many ants on almost anything. There were ants all over the ground, all the low vegetation and on the tree trunks.

Unfortunately, in my haste to leave I forgot to take any specimens. I would guess that they were a Formica species but would need to go back and confirm. Does anyone have some good suggestions for keeping ants at bay?

Anyway, autumn is definitely underway here. It’s dark when I get home from work, the leaves are changing colour and I have started packing my waterproof jacket for the inevitable rain.

My summer has been incredibly busy and that’s one of the poor reasons I have not written recently. The more important reason is due to changing jobs, where it matters more if I identify myself online, especially entomologically. Thankfully, I think I’ll have the latter reason resolved soon.

Entomologically, this summer has been action packed. I have been to many interesting sites and seen more new insects that any other year.

North Thames/Stanford-le-Hope Marshes - One of the more interesting sites which has a salt marsh area.

Soon my insect photo count will breach the 1,000 mark! I even managed to do a little insect hunting in Sweden and saw one of the world’s oldest tractors :)

Ferguson Tractor

In previous years I remember feeling somewhat sad when summer ended and the insect season was finishing. Right now I am looking forward to sorting out my insect records, investigating photographic metadata and catching up on some reading!

Part of the work I do at the Natural History Museum involves the preparation for construction of taxonomic database on Coreidae, a family of ‘true bugs’ (Hemiptera) known colloquially as squash bugs or leaf-footed bugs. One aim of the database is to include photographs of as many important museum (type) specimens as possible, allowing researchers to view the specimens without having to travel to the museum or request to have the specimens sent through the post.

The Swedish Natural History Museum, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, holds a number of these type specimens. As I was already going to be in Stockholm, my supervisor and I thought it would be good to visit the museum.

The entrance to the Swedish Natural History Museum, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet.

The curators in the entomology department were very welcoming and helpful, answering many questions and allowing me to study some of their Hemiptera. Hopefully I will get to visit for longer this summer and photograph more of their specimens.

One of the photographed Coreidae, Bostrostethus annulipes © Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet

I have taken a short break in Stockholm so my updates will be a little irregular, hence the lack of an update on Saturday. Today I have access to a more reasonably priced internet connection, ~£2/24 hours, instead of ~£15/24 hours!

I will be visiting the Naturhistoriska riksmuseet (Stockholm Natural History Museum) tomorrow and will try and write some insect-related goodness.

For now you will have to enjoy a view of the city.

View of Södermalm, Stockholm