The UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS), which engages thousands of citizen scientists to record insects on surveys across the UK countryside and gardens, is emphasising the value of having a wide range of plants and habitats to support a diverse range of pollinators.
The latest annual report of the scheme, by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and JNCC, has been published at the start of the Royal Entomological Society’s Insect Week. Insect Week 2025 is calling on everyone to pledge to discover, observe and protect insects in all their fascinating glory.
Data from 10-minute ‘FIT Count’ surveys of insects visiting flowers across the eight full seasons of monitoring that have taken place so far show Ivy and Hogweed to be clear favourites in terms of the overall total number of insects. However, Bramble, Knapweeds, Buddleja and Lavender received a high proportion of visits from bumblebees, solitary bees and honeybees, and flowers of Ragwort and Thistles were important for hoverflies and other flies.
PoMS comprises two separate types of survey:
- The 10-minute Flower-Insect Timed Counts (FIT Counts) involve members of the public recording insects visiting a patch of flowers. They note the group to which each insect belongs – including bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, other flies or beetles – and also collect information on flower abundance, surrounding habitats and weather conditions.
- A systematic 1-km square survey of 95 sites surveyed by trained volunteers across the UK. These surveys have recorded more than 260 species of bees and hoverflies – nearly half the known species within these insect groups in the UK.
Since PoMS surveys began in 2017 there have been 20,684 FIT Counts, logging a total of 217,215 insect visits to flowers, and 1,723 systematic survey visits to 1-km squares across the UK.
Several species of pollinators were also recorded within PoMS surveys for the first time in 2024: Little Blue Carpenter Bee, Variable Nomad Bee, Golf-club Duckfly hoverfly and Variable Pufftail hoverfly are all species with restricted distributions and fascinating life histories.
PoMS is just one of JNCC’s 11 schemes that monitor species throughout the UK. These monitoring schemes provide the evidence base that underpins effective conservation action. They are critical to helping us understand how nature is faring and whether policies impacting conservation are being successful. These insights on the impact of policies on species, combined with other monitoring data, will also enable us to project the likely impact of conservation polices and their effectiveness.
PoMS is run by a partnership of conservation and research organisations jointly funded by UKCEH and JNCC.
This year the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) joined the PoMS partnership. FIT Counts are now being used across RHS gardens to improve evidence behind its Plants for Pollinators lists, helping gardeners select the best pollinator-friendly flowers.
Pollinator monitoring surveys are carried out between 1 April and 30 September. For information on getting involved in a FIT Count or a 1 km survey, or to view live data, visit the PoMS website. The FIT Count app can be downloaded for Android or Apple phones. You can also subscribe to the PoMS newsletter.
The PoMS Annual Report 2024 is available via the UK PoMS website.