Despite its name, the great spider crab is actually smaller than the more common European spider crab.

As the name suggests, this beautiful brown butterfly is most common in Scotland, though it can also be seen in northern England.

The lightbulb sea squirt is common around much of the UK. Its easy to see where its name came from!

This well-camouflaged woodpecker used to be a common breeding bird in Britain, but is now only likely to be seen passing through on migration.

This black and grey solitary bee takes to the wing in spring, when it can be seen buzzing around burrows in open ground.

The small white is a common garden visitor. It is smaller than the similar large white, and has less black on its wingtips.

This striking black-and-white moth flies during the day in open woodlands, moorlands, and bogs. It's most common on Scottish moors.

This crab is common around all of the UK. If you've ever been rockpooling or crabbing, it's probably the shore crab that you've met.

Familiar as the bristly plant that easily hooks on to our clothing as we walk through the countryside or do the gardening, cleavers uses its hooks to help it climb and to disperse its seeds.

Found in compost heaps and under stones in gardens, the flat-backed millipede is a common minibeast. It is an important recycler of nutrients, feeding on decaying matter.

This common hoverfly is often seen visiting flowers. It's named for its stripy thorax, which looks a bit like a football shirt.

This large burrowing bivalve, also known as the Icelandic cyprine, is found on sandy seabeds around much of the UK. It is the longest-lived animal known to man, with one individual found to be 507…