The emperor dragonfly is an impressively large and colourful dragonfly of ponds, lakes, canals and flooded gravel pits. It flies between June and August and even eats its prey on the wing.

The grizzled skipper has a striking brown-and-white checked wing pattern. It is a fast flier, so is best observed in the morning as it basks in the sun to warm up. It favours chalk grassland and…

The jay is a colourful member of the crow family, with brilliant blue wing patches. It is famous for searching out acorns in autumnal woodlands and parks, often storing them for the winter ahead…

The Noble chafer is a rare and beautiful metallic-green beetle that can be found in traditional orchards. It is on the wing over summer, feeding on umbellifers. The larvae live in the decaying…

The black garden ant is the familiar and abundant small ant that lives in gardens, but also turns up indoors searching for sugary food. In summer, winged adults, or 'flying ants', swarm…

Mainly found in Southern and Eastern England, the Common hornbeam is a tall tree of ancient woodlands. Its large catkins appear in spring, and its winged seeds are dispersed by the wind in autumn…

The stock dove looks very much like the woodpigeon, but without the white neck and wing patches. It can be spotted in woodlands and parks, and on farmland in winter, but rarely visits our gardens…

An inconspicuous tree for much of the year, the Field maple comes to life in autumn when its lobed leaves turn golden-yellow and its winged fruits disperse in the wind. Look for it in hedges and…

The Great diving beetle is a large and voracious predator of ponds and slow-moving waterways. Blackish-green in colour, it can be spotted coming to the surface to replenish the air supply it…

The orange ladybird is pale orange with up to 16 cream spots on its wing cases. It feeds on mildew on trees like sycamore and ash, and hibernates in the leaf litter. It often turns up in moth…