Our only venomous snake, the shy adder can be spotted basking in the sunshine in woodland glades and on heathlands.

A bright red beetle, with black legs and knobbly antennae, the red-headed cardinal beetle lives up to its name. Look for it in woodland, along hedgerows and in parks and gardens over summer.

Tall melilot was introduced into the UK as a fodder crop, but has now become naturalised. It displays golden, pea-like flowers on tall spikes, which are followed by black, hairy seed pods.

Look for wood avens along hedgerows and in woodlands. Its yellow flowers appear in spring and provide nectar for insects; later, they turn to red, hooked seedheads that can easily stick to a…

Hornwrack is often found washed up on our beaches, with many believing that it is dried seaweed. In fact, it is a colony of animals!

The ragworm is highly common on our shores, though rarely seen except by the fishermen that dig them up for bait.

The UK's smallest hawker, the hairy dragonfly is mostly black in colour, but has a distinctively hairy thorax. It can be found in grazing marshes and flooded gravel pits, and along canals…

Despite popular belief, and its name (from the Old English for 'ear beetle'), the common earwig will not crawl into your ear while you sleep - it much prefers a nice log or stone pile!…

With a torpedo-shaped body and long, narrow wings, the privet hawk-moth is a striking garden visitor. But the caterpillars really stand out: lime-green, with purple streaks and a black hook at the…