Big City Bug Hunt: Learn more about IDing and monitoring bugs!
Join Capital Growth’s Big City Bug Hunt, a citizen science project hosted on iNaturalist, uncovering biodiversity in urban growing spaces. We've developed some training videos and resources to help you discover the bugs in your garden.
Big City Bug Hunt table at Christchurch School Community Garden for Good to Grow 2026. Credit: Lula Wattam
Do you know the difference between a butterfly and a moth? How about a fly and a bee?
It is not always easy, especially as many flies are excellent mimics of bees and wasps. Food gardens are important habitats for pollinators, and this session will help you identify key insect species, understand insect anatomy, learn identification techniques, and discover what insects eat and where they live.
How to make your bug spotting count!
To take part in the Big City Bug Hunt, you need to register your garden and record your observations using iNaturalist. Watch this video to learn how to join the project and make your bug spotting count:
Found something interesting and want help to ID it?
iNaturalist is great for identifying but check out the following resources to dig deeper:
Flying pollinators:
- Identifying bees | Woodland Trust
- Identify a butterfly | Butterfly Conservation
- Identify a fly | The Wildlife Trusts
- Identify a moth | Butterfly Conservation
- Identify a wasp | Wildlife Trust for Beds Cambs & Northants
Fresh water animals:
- Identify a freshwater invertebrate groups | Natural History Museum
- Identify newts | Woodland Trust
- Identify pond life | Wildfowl and Wetland Trust
- Identify toads, frogs and spawn | Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Nature friendly planting:
- Nature-friendly gardening guide | Soil Association
- Planting Guide | Bumblebee Conservation Trust
- Gardening | Butterfly Conservation
Find out more about biological recording and Green Information for Greater London (GIGL)
Need help with iNaturalist?
How to make an observation on iNaturalist using the app:
iNaturalist offers lots of guidance, click here to read FAQ's.
Sign up to the Big City Bug Hunt
Our resources have been created in collaboration with Susannah Hall a designer, trainer and facilitator for Permablitz London. She is the gardener at Cecil Sharp House and co-ordinator at the Josiah Braithwaite Community Garden. She has designed a forest garden for Forest Farm Peace Garden and co-designed (with Kayode Olafimihan) the food forest at Northwick Park Community Garden and the permaculture community gardens at Battersea Arts Centre and at London’s Community Kitchen.
The Big City Bug Hunt is a partnership between Capital Growth and GIGL. Greenspace Information for Greater London (GIGL) is the environmental record centre for Greater London. It collates information about wildlife, parks, nature reserves, gardens and other open spaces, and makes it available to partner organisations and environmental consultants.
Funded by the Mayor of London and the City Bridge Foundation
14/04/2026
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Capital Growth is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.
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