Tim Cockerill

Arachnophobes beware: spider season is here 🕷 big thanks to @DrTimCockerill for answering all my creepy crawly questions 🕸 metro.co.uk/2021/09/01/wha… via @MetroUK

I’m a strong believer that one of the best ways to learn about wildlife is to eat it. These are some of the edible plants we collected with the brilliant @cornishwildfood on a field trip with students this week. A… instagram.com/p/B9Xp71FATcc/…

I’m a strong believer that one of the best ways to learn about wildlife is to eat it. These are some of the edible plants we collected with the brilliant @cornishwildfood on a field trip with students this week. A… instagram.com/p/B9XpaMVg_kN/…

We often overlook the diversity and beauty of microorganisms, yet their total mass on earth outweighs all animals and plants combined. Bacteria like these give us botulism, syphilis and bubonic plague, but also… instagram.com/p/B9MWCJEAneL/…

Draco lizards live in the rainforests of South Asia. When faced with danger they have an unusual means of escape – they jump from the trees and glide. Their elongated ribs support flaps… instagram.com/p/Bq5MXhDgPQ2/…

The leaf insects (Phyliidae) show some of the most impressive camouflage in nature. As well as looking like leaves, they sway back and forth to mimic the movement of a leaf in the breeze.… instagram.com/p/Bqu1hrLg7mg/…

Just as humans are left- or right-handed, so elephants can be left- or right-tusked. Some also show a preference to curl their elongated nose in one particular direction when feeding,… instagram.com/p/Bqp9TcjAsnX/…

The giraffe weevil Trachelophorus giraffa is so known because of its extraordinarily long neck. The male beetle uses his neck to fight with rivals and, if victorious, will mate with a… instagram.com/p/Bqk7fYnAcTw/…

The leaf chameleon Brookesia therezieni lives in Madagascar’s eastern rainforests. One of the world’s smallest chameleons, it would comfortably fit inside a matchbox. During the day it… instagram.com/p/Bqk5KVsg_5J/…

Phenomenally naive argument from @ProfRWinston on @BBCPM suggesting that species are only worth saving if they confer some benefit to humans. Do we ‘need’ orangutans and birdwing butterflies? @wwf_uk @WWF

I've been talking #FalseWidow spiders on @BBCRadioLondon tonight. Four schools unnecessarily closed. Brilliant response from @Buzz_dont_tweet to the huge overreaction buglife.org.uk/news-and-event…

@AileenFyfe @irmorus1 @musa_standrews How brilliant! Love that Victorian technology is entertaining the youth of today - we should market it as the iPhonograph and make a fortune...

@DrTimCockerill @irmorus1 I don't know if Iwan still does his Victorian turn from time to time... I've taken the magic lantern and phonograph round local primary schools, and outreach events @musa_standrews. The kids love using layers of acetate to make their own moving-image lantern slides!

AHRC funding has long term use! Our 1905 Edison phonograph is still out and about, and still proving a great way to draw visitors' attention. It was originally used in arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/victorianscien… @irmorus1 @kitt_price @DrTimCockerill

@BBCLondonNews @JasonRosam @BBCRadioLondon I hope I busted some spider myths on the show tonight. Here are a few more to put to bed bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wal… #FalseWidow #FakeNews

@wildheartgriff You're on the right track Matt! The closing of schools is an overreaction of monumental proportions based on tabloid sensationalism rather than any real risk. See buglife's response here buglife.org.uk/news-and-event…

@Fionamills1 @UniOfHull @RadioHumberside Great to chat spiders Fiona! Are you calling me a hairy eejit?

On 'Unheard' tomorrow it's Phobias The most common to strange & unusual. We talk to @DrTimCockerill about spiders! And hear about research involving 'tokophobia' from @UniOfHull. Guests & experts. @RadioHumberside from 7pm. Ugh! spiders! Hairy eejits!

@akazeeox @mattprince1969 @BritishSpiders Brilliant - I'm in Cornwall as we speak! I'll keep an eye out too. Thanks John.

@mattprince1969 @BritishSpiders @DrTimCockerill .@DrTimCockerill - and now there's been a recent sighting of H. paradoxus by @mattprince1969 on the Cornish border, also! twitter.com/mattprince1969…

Intrigued by these tiny spiders observed in heated greenhouse at Durham Botanical Gardens today. Unique resting posture (Photo 2) & possibly Uloborus plumipes? See bit.ly/2wjKlTd @countrymusogirl @Tone_Killick @mattprince1969 @BritishSpiders @NEE_Naturalist

@melissasuzanneh Oh no! If there's sign of a bite it's most likely a mosquito or midge. Or, there's also a little-known but extremely common type of flower bug (Anthocoris spp.) whose bite can lead to those symptoms. Either way, definitely not a spider!

Any entomologists out there that can tell me what I may have been bitten by at the weekend? Swollen hand, knuckles etc, achy, warm, itchy - didn't notice a thing at the time. @DrTimCockerill ?

@AirbusRed @BBCScienceNews Another name for the ogre-faced spider (Deinopis spp.) is the net-casting spider. It weaves an intricate web about the size of a postage stamp and sits in wait, holding one corner in each of its four front legs. #papuanewguinea #wildlife #photography

@Heather___Brown @BBCScienceNews I've heard of spiders living in ears but not buried in skin! Could it have been a tick? They bury their heads in when they feed.

@BBCScienceNews @DrTimCockerill A friend once told me about a spider that she found with four of its legs burried into her skin. I tried to research to see if this is possible but I didn't find much about it. @DrTimCockerill is this something that can happen?

What's the truth about spiders in our homes? bbc.in/2BlHYnO