Insect Surveys and ID
A range of ecology and insect identification services tailored to your needs and interests
Insects can tell us a lot about the important habitat features and condition of a site. Knowing which species live on a site can help to form an effective conservation management plan. I have surveyed a wide range of insects in grassland, woodland, rivers and farmland for county councils in Dublin. I'm eager to extend my services to private land owners and gardeners who want to nurture the conservation potential of their land, and other researchers who want to get the most out of their field samples.
I have identified thousands of beetles - my greatest passion and an extremely diverse and useful order. I have also worked with bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies and shield bugs. I'm happy to collect specimens of other groups, arrange for them to be identified and interpret the results for you too. I hold public liability, employer's liability and professional indemnity insurance.
A Lebia cruxminor specimen from Legume Futures
Insect identification
Have you collected insects that need identifying to species level? Allow me. Contact me for a quote.
I'm a self-taught entomologist. It all started with 3022 ground beetles for my MSc research project in 2012. I was then employed by Trinity College to identify thousands more from Central Europe for an EU project, Legume Futures. As an RA with SEED Madagascar I honed my skills identifying reptiles and frogs in the field. Thanks to county council survey commissions I now have experience identifying hoverflies, butterflies, moths, bumble bees, bugs and other beetles too. My visual background helps a lot with identification.
Surveying water beetles at Dodder Wet Woodland pNHA
Site Surveys
I carry out ecological surveys and insect species inventories of public and private lands, ranging from small gardens to nature reserves.
In the past this has primarily been for county councils, to inform conservation management plans for sites of ecological significance such as esker grasslands and wet woodlands. I plan to extend this service to gardeners, farmers and other land managers with an interest in knowing what lives on their land and its conservation significance.
Even small sites can host ecologically interesting species. Click the button below to chat about your site and get a quote.
A meadow brown butterfly captured from long grass
Garden surveys
Gardens are an underrated and relatively unexplored resource for insect biodiversity. Bee hotels and butterfly bushes have become very popular, but there's so much more we can do to create a network of nature havens in our neighbourhoods.
I can carry out a morning or two of field sampling to find out what lives in your garden, and tell you how you can support it and attract even more. You can get as involved as you like in the process - there's a lot to learn from even the smallest patch of ground! To contact me for a garden survey quote click the button below.