Alex Smart

News - International experts meet at University to discuss latest research on major crop pest | Harper Adams University harper-adams.ac.uk/news/211236/in… @AABiologists @aab_nematology @DrKasiaDybal

Kicked off my first day as a PhD student! It was an enjoyable, albeit rainy, start. Excited for the journey ahead! #NewBeginnings

Some truly fantastic talks at #PCNSYM6 Really getting me fired up to start my PhD next month! It was lovely to meet so many of you😊

Can anyone help me with this damselfly ID, found alongside a nymph exuviae? (I apologise for the poor picture quality). Also found lots of hairy shieldbug, Dolycoris baccarum and the black and red frog hopper, Cercopis vulnerata. All of these were found along Newport canal 🐛🪲

@MBailey_Eco This was great, couldn’t believe how much we found in the rain on an overcast afternoon! Amazing what you can find if you just get out there 🪲

Identifying grasses. Let's revise the species that are in flower at the moment. It's been cold, so the season is progressing more slowly than usual for 1 May (I recon about 2 weeks late in Silwood). First, Anthoxanthum odoratum with its coumarin taste and hairy ligule.

For Week 10 of #CouchTo10Mosses we have a lovely little thing called Neat Feather-moss (Pseudoscleropodium purum). This one is just as happy in grassland as it is in woodland, so long as it’s nice and damp. So look for it in shady spots! Three ID features below ⤵️ (1/9)

A polite request to any homeowner planning extension work: please do consider designing-in e.g. bird boxes, bee bricks, bat boxes. The expense of such integrated features should be slight against the overall investment &, when there is success, you have great satisfaction & joy!

Carabidae, ie the ground beetles, is one of the most diverse insect groups and one of my favorites (I have too many favorites, I know) #insect #Entomology #sciart #DigitalArtist #digitalart #illustration #ArtistOnTwitter

@LMM_CH @EntoMasters @HarperAdamsUni You were brilliant, seriously enjoyed your talk!

Delightful day with the @EntoMasters at @HarperAdamsUni ! Two fantastic practicals, cool pictures and videos, one lecture and a very engaged group of students. Hope they learnt as much as I enjoyed it !

This MITE be the most interesting practical we’ve had so far!

@flygirlNHM @DipteristsForum please help!! Is this Dolichopus ungulatus?!🪰

Great to see our @innovateuk project on PCN trap crops get wider coverage on the local news @BBCMidlandsRBX Great team work @JanineAcrops @CHAPAgriTech @ProduceSolution @HarperAdamsUni @GriffithRichard @Crop_Trials @DrAlexMcCormack and the legend, Ivan Grove

@Siggg_K This looks really good!!! Gutted it’s on the 25th :(

Great last day of the module, seriously enjoyed it and I’m going to miss all of the ento lot🥲. Thanks so much Ben!

@EntoMasters stuck with me for the last two days of the module! Our fabulous visiting lecturers and curators we'll hopefully see again during the course. #Lepidoptera this morning and reviewing ID skills learned so far, with mixed pan trap samples this afternoon

It was all things Lepidoptera with @benclunie today - green islands among the leaf litter, ghostly webbing to evade predation, and the hidden splendour of the 'grey' micro moths.

Amazing day with the @EntoMasters gang learning everything Coleoptera🪲 Thank you so much for today @Coleopterist it was super fun and useful!

It's been an overview of taxonomy with @benclunie this morning - classification, species description, and naming covered. Order: Confectionary Family: Sweetidea Genus: Jelly Species: bean