Riverfly Partnership

12/06/2026

📏 Some of us might see water levels dropping at our sites over the summer, if we get prolonged periods of dry weather.

🛑 If the water level is too low to get invertebrates into the net, there's no need to attempt a kick sample. However, please still log your survey on the database, showing that you weren't able to take a sample. It's still really valuable if you continue to visit your site on a monthly basis and take photos, even if you aren't always able to sample it. 💻

☀️ For our full guidance on carrying out Riverfly surveys through the summer months, please see riverflies.org/summer-survey-guidance. ☀️

05/06/2026

These photos, taken by ARK - Action for the River Kennet volunteer John Sharpe, were shared with the Environment Agency, who confirmed that this was the first demon shrimp (Dikerogammarus haemobaphes) to be recorded on the Holy Brook, Reading. Well done to the ARK volunteers for noticing this – it takes a good eye to spot the difference! 🔍

If you ever think you've found an invasive non-native species in your Riverfly sample, take photos so that the sighting can be verified, and make sure you always check, clean and dry your kit. 📸🧽

Videos and ID sheets of the non-native shrimp species can be found on our website here: www.riverflies.org/keydocuments/

03/06/2026

Looking forward to hearing this talk about stoneflies and their 'paradiddle'! The FBA's Annual Scientific Meeting is next week at Edinburgh Napier and we'll be there - there are still tickets if you'd like to join us 💧

02/06/2026

This Biological Recording Company talk last week, about riverflies in Ireland, was fascinating. Definitely worth a watch if you're interested in learning more about the diversity of riverflies and their habitats. 💧

Ireland’s freshwater landscape encompasses over 12,000 lakes and extensive river networks, primarily shaped by Pleistocene glaciation. Standard aquatic surveys consistently target riffle zone…

29/05/2026

When volunteers at Warwickshire Wildlife Trust found this riverfly in their sample, they asked us for ID help. This is a ghostly pale olive (family Baetidae) – the reason it's that colour is because it's recently moulted. Riverfly larvae go through a number of moults as they grow, with each stage between moults known as an 'instar'. At the start of each instar, the larva is paler and softer, because the exoskeleton hasn't hardened yet. 🌟
If you've ever got any questions about what you find in your Riverfly sample, just drop us an e-mail at [email protected] ☺️

27/05/2026

Nice to see BBC News shining a light on Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust's Riverfly monitoring in Scotland!

A safety net against water pollution is widening across the country thanks to a growing army of fly-counting volunteers. Find out more: https://bbc.in/42XfV8k

22/05/2026

We know many of our Riverfly monitors out there are anglers... if you're in the Trent catchment, check out the angling-led citizen science campaign below! 🐟

15/05/2026

The RPHQ team will be in attendance - particularly looking forward to the riverfly-related talks!

13/05/2026

Hundreds of our Riverfly monitors were originally trained by Stuart Crofts. He's long been a fantastic champion of the Riverfly Partnership, and this is a lovely interview with him by the FBA.