Amateur nature recorders are providing vital data on beetles, soldierflies and a host of lesser-known insectsAshleigh Whiffin’s day job as assistant curator of entomology is to look after National Museums Scotland’s vast collection of preserved insects. But her passion for the creatures doesn’t end when she goes home; in her spare time she spends hours recording and verifying sightings of a specific group of large carrion beetles in the family silphidae.“Silphidae are absolutely brilliant,” Whiffin says from her Edinburgh office. “They’re decomposers, so they are really vital for recycling and also have forensic applications. Some of the members in the… Source – Full Article https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/10/a-bugs-life-how-a-volunteer-army-is-putting-uk-wildlife-on-the-record-aoe