Anna Aitken

MRes student researching peatland hydrology at woodland edges at Forest Research and University of Leeds. Former @MMUBioRecs and @OU_EEE

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@andrewhunterm Millie has some concerns

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@VLucet I used the example numbers which had an overlapping value while I was figuring it out my solution so I saw the problem quickly. My husband thinks the example numbers might have changed since he did it this morning, as he didn't see it until he looked through the full dataset.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

I just completed "Trebuchet?!" - Day 1 - Advent of Code 2023 https://t.co/B2thPHERUT #AdventOfCode
It would be quicker to murder anyone who provided you with a dataset like this.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@andrewhunterm £150 per wasp as surely the hosts will count

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@CalMac_Updates Do you know what time the update for the 15:20 sailing will be?

[Tiree Ranger Hayley @Nadair_Thiriodh]

A wee wildlife news story to come out of the sad news of @TireeMusicFest's cancellation. As always the volunteers of TMF put their heart & soul into the event and last night they, along with islanders, emergency services & others, stood in the rain & wind helping festival goers

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@Alauda123 It is, I found I got a bit swamped trying to work out the best option so ended up going for this one from Anglian Lepidopterist Supplies with a 22Ah lithium battery https://t.co/FEpQYK4N1u
Care needs to be taken charging the battery, but it lasts & is light weight which suits me.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

I'm back on Tiree and last night put out my light trap. I was rewarded with my first sight of the whole reason I'm here, a Tiree Twist moth, Periclepsis Cinctana. Tiree is the only known site for this rare moth in the UK, after it went extinct in England around 1950.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@scorpion_nv Yes it's really striking, a good hill for pretty micros, as I had that Aethes piercei last time. I'm going to be looking for them today as I'm keen to see them in their natural habitat and it's a window of nicer weather.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

It was rediscovered on Balephetrish Hill by lepidopterist Mark Young in the 1980s when he stopped there for lunch.

My project with @savebutterflies
and @PTES involves gathering data on Tiree Twist habitat to learn more about why it only lives in such a small area.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@BradleyNealEnv Windmills are one of the few things I miss about England.

[Katty Baird @kattyponder]

It's @insectweek! What better time for extra helpings of insect love🦋🐞🪳🐛🐝🦟

Light traps can provide close encounters with a wonderful variety of #moths & other #insects.

Perfect wildlife for sharing with others 🥰🤗🤍🤎

#MothsMatter #InsectWeek23

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@BradleyNealEnv @RoyEntSoc @NatSciNMS The collection is such a lovely place to be and you get to meet people with so much knowledge and enthusiasm for insects. I hope you get the same experience

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

It's Insect Week's Moth Monday & coincidentally I was at the NMS entomology collection today. Since the start of the year I've been working my way through the cases shown here, and recording the lepidoptera specimens in each of these wooden drawers.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

@kattyponder I had some near the beginning, I think the remaining drawers are from individual collections so that's probably all there is.

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

By having this information available digitally it will be easier for people to find specimens they want to work with. I've learnt an awful lot about variation within and between species and it's really helped my ID in the field. #InsectWeek

[Anna Aitken @AnnaAitken_]

Each drawer may contain several species, and within species there can be different stages or sexes, like these wingless Winter Moth ladies and Scarce Tissue larvae.

I've done this for over 33,899 specimens since beginning, that's 21 out of 24 cases.

[People's Trust for Endangered Species @PTES]

In the UK and Ireland, we have more than 2,500 species of moth, yet they often go unnoticed, especially our micro-moths! 🦋

Our new intern Anna is investigating Scottish single site micro-moths during her PTES internship. Find out more
👉 https://t.co/Z6lfCjphiC

📸Nigel Voaden