Eye opener

Nadia Shaikh goes synaesthetic for the start of spring, almost tasting the orange tang of an early butterfly

Find out which early species to watch for, how to make your patch more butterfly-friendly and where to record your sightings for science

Handsome, chunky and often brightly marked, shieldbugs emerge in spring, quietly shaping the life of hedgerow and garden

Squinting, it looks like a piece of popcorn. It’s hard to imagine this tiny orb could be a lifeline for coral reefs around the world. “That will have maybe eight or 12 eggs,” says Dr Jamie Craggs as I

Dave Lewis recalls a trip to explore the National Museum of Wales’ collection of rare and unusual fish, and asks why these sorts of catches seem to be becoming more common

Of all the strange and wonderful animals that live in the deep sea, perhaps the most tantalising are the ones that are occasionally glimpsed by deep-submerged cameras, then swim off into the darkness