Bug campaigners planning open day

Advice will be offered on how to encourage insects into gardens

Wildlife charity Buglife Scotland has announced the date of its first open day as part of a campaign to boost the conservation of invertebrates.

At the event in Edinburgh on 23 May, experts will give advice on how to encourage species into gardens.

Pond-dipping and wildlife walks are also planned.

Stirling-based Buglife has previously been involved in efforts to conserve wood ants in the Highlands and bog bush crickets in Dumfries and Galloway.

Riverfly expert Craig Macadam will give talks on mayflies and on what Buglife has been doing to conserve rare bugs in Scotland over the past year.

INVERTEBRATES FACT FILE Scotland is home to some of the UK's rarest bugs Scottish wood ants and pine hoverfly are now only found in the Highlands The North February red stonefly is restricted to upland streams in north and west Scotland Aucheninnes Moss in Dumfries and Galloway is the only site in Scotland known to support the bog bush cricket The tadpole shrimp (Triops cancriformis) is one of the oldest living species on Earth. Buglife said it has not changed since it appeared 220 million years ago

He said: "The open day is a great opportunity for people interested in wildlife to learn more about bugs.

"We have some really entertaining talks, and lots of information on everything from building your own bee home, to ideas to get your children interested in wildlife."

Last summer, Buglife expressed "profound shock" over a UK government report showing a decline in zooplankton of more than 70% since the 1960s.

The tiny animals are an important food for fish, mammals and crustaceans.

Figures contained in the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) document, Marine Programme Plan, suggested a fall in abundance.

The charity said it could be a "biodiversity disaster of enormous proportions".

It could have implications for creatures all the way up the food chain, from sand eels to the seabirds, such as puffin, which feed on the fish, it said.

Defra described the Marine Programme Plan as one of the department's high impact programmes, reporting directly to the Defra board and used to guide policy.

In 2007, delegates attending a conference hosted by Buglife agreed more needed to be done to increase knowledge about Scotland's insects and the state of their habitats.

Attended by 86 experts, the meeting flagged up three pressures on bugs - climate change, land use change and development.

The conference in Perthshire brought together entomologists and representatives from museums and academic institutions.