This small, stripy beetle is one of the most commonly encountered weevils.

Often growing in swathes along a roadside or field margin, the oxeye daisy is just as at home in traditional hay meadows. The large, white, daisy-like flowers are easy to identify.

Although, commonly referred to as a ‘sea snail,’ this species in fact belongs to the fish family!

Look out for the white, umbrella-like flower heads of lesser water-parsnip along the shallow margins of ditches, ponds, lakes and rivers. When crushed, it does, indeed, smell like parsnip!

Have you ever seen those worm-like mounds on beaches? Those are a sign of lugworms! The worms themselves are very rarely seen except by fishermen who dig them up for bait.

Musk mallow has pretty pink flowers that can be seen along roadside verges, hedgerows and field margins in summer. It lives up to its name, producing a delicate, musky smell that increases indoors…

The keeled skimmer is a dragonfly of heaths and commons with shallow pools. It has a skittish and weak flight, and is on the wing in summer and early autumn.

The large, sunshine-yellow flowers of the yellow iris brighten up the margins of our waterways, ponds, wet woods, fens and marshes. Also called the 'flag iris', its outer petals have a…