Living up to its name the Common blue damselfly is both very common and very blue. It regularly visits gardens - try digging a wildlife-friendly pond to attract damselflies and dragonflies.

These pretty black and red moths are often confused for butterflies! Their black and yellow caterpillars are a common sight on ragwort plants. The caterpillar’s bright colours warn predators not…

The fearsome-looking hornet may not be a well-loved insect, but it is actually much less aggressive than the common wasp. It is also an important pollinator and a predator of species that feed on…

A very rare ant, once found on heathland across southern England but now restricted to Scotland and Devon. It constructs distinctive thatched nests in open areas at the edges of scrub, and forages…

Sphagnum mosses carpet the ground with colour on our marshes, heaths and moors. They play a vital role in the creation of peat bogs: by storing water in their spongy forms, they prevent the decay…

A tall plant, purple-loosestrife can form dense stands of bright purple flower spikes in wet habitats like reedbeds, fens and marshes.

As its name suggests, Meadowsweet is a sweet-smelling flower of damp meadows, ditches and riverbanks. Look for frothy clusters of cream flowers on tall stems.

Great reedmace is familiar to many of us as the archetypal 'bulrush'. Look for its tall stems, sausage-like, brown flower heads and green, flat leaves at the water's edge in our…

Look out for the small, yellow flowers of Celery-leaved buttercup in wet meadows and at the edges of ponds and ditches. It flowers from May to September.

Often found carpeting damp grassland and woodland clearings, the blue flower spikes of bugle are very recognisable. A short, creeping plant, it spreads using runners.

The Foxglove is a familiar, tall plant, with pink flower spikes and a deadly nature. In summer, it can be spotted in woodlands and gardens, and on moorlands, roadside verges and waste grounds.