Behold, the tree lobster. (Spoiler: not a lobster)
We like to bring you the occasional large invertebrate on this blog. And even a huge vertebrate now and then. But here’s a big insect with a story to tell. And it’s a story
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Invasive species
GB Non-native Species Secretariat offering free online courses
If you’re interested in non-native species and their impact on the environment, and you’d like to learn more, this is the thing for you. One of the very few parts
Read moreSmearing toads with haemorrhoid cream… humanely
Regular readers will remember the anguish with which celebrities and commoners alike rallied round the cause of poor old introduced hedgehogs in Scotland, hard-pressed by conservationists bent on their eradication.
Read moreKnotweed: is Stefan papering over the cracks?
Everyone seems to know a few facts about Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica: it’s going to be eaten by some Japanese bug, any minute now; it’s really nasty and destroys your
Read moreTell me, sweet little lice
Well, it seems it’s actually come true. As reported on this blog and elsewhere, CABI have been looking at possible biological control agents for the invasive Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica.
Read moreThe non-native species portal opens!
Behold! The portal is opening… and what’s inside? Is it a trans-dimensional gateway to another star system? No, it’s a new UK government website about non-native species. Probably a lot
Read moreKnotweed – what harm could it do?
Japanese knotweed is in the news because of the proposed introduction of a predatory insect to control it – a story reported on this blog in May. Knotweed is an
Read moreInvasion of the swingers
The Ranger is fond of internet tittle-tattle, and occasionally enjoys the salacious titbits found on the Holy Moly gossip website. There’s something curiously compelling in scurrilous untruths about people you’ve
Read moreKnotweed to be unravelled at last?
An insect has been identified that just might prove to be the holy grail of biological control: a safe predator for Japanese Knotweed. The Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International has announced
Read moreAussies open ‘toad detention centres’ and make fertilizer out of them
Remember the invasive Cane Toads – scourge of Australian native wildlife? they were the subject of one of the most popular posts on The Ranger’s Blog ever: Smearing toads with
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