Tue 2010-01-19 Robert Llewellyn is probably best known for playing Kryten in Red Dwarf. At his web-site Llewtube he has a series of interviews with various interesting people, including several scientists such as Ben Goldacre, Alice Roberts, Brian Cox, and (very topical) Susan Greenfield. The format of interviewing people in a car seems to work very well.
Tue 2010-01-19 
A male Sphaerophoria scripta hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae).
Two features mark it out as a male: firstly the large eyes which meet at the top of the head (in females there is a gap between the eyes), and secondly the long straight-sided, blunt-ended abdomen which extends well beyond the tip of the wings when they are folded (in females the abdomen is fat in the middle and tapers to a point at the tip).
According to Michael Chinery (Complete British Insects, Collins, 2005), in S. scripta "There is always a yellow stripe on each side of the thorax but the abdominal markings vary a great deal". As an illustration of the latter point, compare the above photo with the one here.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-25.
Mon 2010-01-18 
A flower photo from last summer: field scabious (Knautia arvensis). The name scabious derives from the plant being used to treat skin diseases such as scabies. This is what its stem and leaves look like:
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-16.
Sun 2010-01-17 
Small white butterflies, Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), feeding on minerals in mud. Animals (such as butterflies) that feed mainly on plants, which are generally poor sources of minerals, need to supplement their diet in other ways. If you look closely (click through the image and then select the magnifying glass for a larger view), you will see that each of the butterflies has its proboscis inserted into the mud. This way of taking in minerals is known as mud-puddling.
Photo taken at Highcliff Gate, near Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK, on 2009-08-06.
Sat 2010-01-16 
A peacock butterfly, Inachis io (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Peacock butterflies are one of the most colourful insects found in the British Isles, but their undersides are just plain black.
Photo taken in my father's garden in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK, on 2009-08-07.
