Insects never logged in Wales discovered at Powys hotel

Powys County Times

12-06-2025

INSECTS never previously logged in Wales have been discovered at a Powys hotel that has teamed up with a local volunteer group to transform its garden into a thriving biodiversity habitat.
The Metropole Hotel & Spa in Llandrindod Wells has teamed up with Wild Llandrindod having been awarded a local places for nature grant by Powys County Council (PCC).
Wild Llandrindod, a local volunteer group with 855 members that studies biodiversity and microbiology within the town, is helping the famous hotel turn its large solar panel garden into a thriving biodiversity habitat and sensory garden.
'The group has already found insects in our gardens that have never been logged before in Wales,' said Lauren Bingley, the Metropole's sales manager.
'Phase one of planting 150 wild thyme plants in between the solar panels is now completed and the next stage is the build of our habitat pods.'
Lauren said that the two insects previously unrecorded in Wales are mites species which were found on an initial survey of the gardens by Dr Joseph Botting, a renowned local palaeontologist.
He was recently in the news along with Dr Lucy Muir as they discovered a fossil which could help plug gaps in how evolution proceeded after the Cambrian explosion, roughly 541 million years ago.
'While the project is still in its early stages, we are keen to involve more people in the research, so if anybody is interested in contributing, please feel free to contact me directly,' added Lauren.
'We've also just begun a really promising conversation with Grace Marston, community wildlife officer at the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust.
'She's leading a project called 'Wilder Communities' and we are exploring how we might collaborate, particularly in finding ways to make use of other areas around the hotel to support urban wildlife.
'Grace is especially passionate about creating habitats in built-up spaces, so there's real potential for exciting developments here.'
If you're interested in the project, email Lauren at [e-mail].