Have you ever seen one of the 38 species of Rotifer in Milton Keynes? This weekend there will be a special talk about ‘The Extraordinary Biology of Bdelloid Rotifers’ by Dr Chris Wilson of Oxford University at the Bucks Invertebrate Group (BIG) conference at Great Missenden. There will be a series of shorter presentations all day. The event is free and there is still time to book.
If you have a copy of Milton Keynes Natural History Society’s book ‘Milton Keynes: More than Concrete Cows’ (2000) and turn to the very last page, that is where the species of Rotifers then present in MK are listed. At that time Buckinghamshire benefitted from having a local expert in Rotifers, Eric Hollowday, who also provided information about them for the Natural History Museum in London. Eric remained an active member of Bucks Invertebrate Group (BIG) until he passed away on Christmas Eve 2019 at the age of 92. At almost every BIG meeting he made sure to mention his latest Rotifer sightings.
Most Rotifers are around 1–0.5 mm long but their size can range from 50 μm to over 2 mm. They are common in freshwater environments throughout the world and there are some in saltwater. Eric Hollowday used to find some in water butts, and many in ponds. But they are so small that most of us would not notice them. Rotifers are a major food source in freshwater, and many contribute to decomposition of organic matter in soil. In June 2021, biologists reported the restoration of Bdelloid Rotifers after they had been frozen for 24,000 years in the Siberian permafrost.
Full details here: https://sites.google.com/site/bucksinvertebrategroup/big-home/big-events-calendar.
Mike LeRoy
April 22nd 2025
BUCKS INVERTEBRATE GROUP CONFERENCE – Great Missenden this Sunday 27th April
This is a full day in-person meeting, held at Great Missenden Memorial Centre, Link Road, Great Missenden, HP16 9AE. The conference is free to attend but please let BIG know if you will be joining this conference by emailing: bucksinvertgroup@gmail.com
The hall will open for registration and refreshments at 9.30am and the conference will begin at 10.00am and finish at 4.30pm with a break for lunch at around 12.30.
This is an event for BIG members and other interested naturalists to share information about recent invertebrate recording in Buckinghamshire, population and distribution trends, recent arrivals and threats to particular species, and knowledge about recording methods, habitat requirements and management issues.
The full programme for Sunday is:
09:30 – Open for registration and refreshments
10:00 – Welcome and introduction
10:10 – Session 1: Bucks invertebrate recorders/specialists
Dragonflies and damselflies in Bucks (Alan Nelson)
Recent moth records in Bucks (Martin Albertini)
Mostly millipedes … in Bucks (Dr Helen Read)
Spiders in Bucks … and web records (Bill Parker)
11:45 – Session 2: The Eric Hollowday Lecture
The extraordinary biology of bdelloid rotifers by Dr Chris Wilson
12:40 – Lunch break (bring your own lunch)
13:15 – Session 3: Keynote presentation
An overview of invertebrate recording in Bucks (Martin Harvey)
13:45 – Session 4: Invertebrate topics of interest
Discovering flies in Bucks (Sue Taylor)
Challenges of designing photographic field guides (Peter Creed)
Discovering ichneumons in Bucks (Neil Fletcher)
Recording bumblebees in Bucks for Bumblebee Conservation Trust (Linda Wells)
Using UV torches for recording lepidoptera (Geoff Sutton)
How on earth do we conserve the Downland Plume? (Nick Bowles)
15:45 – Session 5: Support for invertebrate recording in Bucks
Update from Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Environmental Records Centre
What else can BIG do to help?
Summing up
16:30 – Finish