Thought I might show you the GF pics I obtained on the 30th (Hand held Nikon Coolpix digi camera) A. Glanville Fritillary Courting pair..jpg B. Glanville Fritillary Courting pair.jpg C. Glanville Fritillary Mating pair..jpg D. Glanville Fritillary Mating pair..jpg F. Glanville Fritillary1.jpg G. Gla...

I know that this is going to upset some people but in general, dog owners do not give a monkey's about wildlife and the countryside. Most of these sites (Denbies for example) are treated like public parks. The dogs are nearly always off their leads and often come bounding up to you chasing off the i...

I went back Wrecclesham today and what a different outcome. Within seconds of getting into the (top) field with the Ox-eyed daisies (thanks Susie) I had my first encounter with a Glanville Fritillary, or should I say two. They were in a courtship flight and soon paired up. Once paired they were easy...

Rogerdodge. Did the female carry the pair into the undergrowth to take cover, or did they split and then the female move off? When I saw Heath Fritillaries Last year at East Blean I came across tennis ball sized mating 'rucks' with presumably one female and a host of males all vying to kick out the ...

N.B I'm fairly new to these message boards and this may not be the done thing, but is anyone planning on going to Norfolk from Surrey to see the Swallowtail on W/E 4-5th june who wouldn't mind a passenger (me) to share the petrol costs? Please get back to me on this board and we'll take it from ther...

Perhaps but your request re swallowtails in general.

Thanks Susie

I'll give it a go. You never know?

Fantastic find. Can't think of what they are up to but I have encountered single queen hornets (much larger than workers) on the ground on two spearate occasions in May. One was on a tarmac road and flew off on approach. The other was on a grass tussock in the same curled position as your photo depi...

You were in the right place. I went across th rec, down the track past the allotments and over the fence into the meadow. The ox eyed daisy patches were full of butterflies including large skipper, common blue and brown argus. Bad weather then? (and bad luck). What chance if it warms up? N.B I'm fa...

Haing dropped in briefly this morning, in similarly cool, breezy and sunless conditions, I saw not a single GF in any of the places where I found them a week ago. All I found were two roosting Common Blues and a Large Skipper making itself as small as possible on a daisy. Dave Thanks Dave. It seems ...

Is that a intrinsic deformity or the result of some kind of attack? David M I would say it is as a the result of problems occuring during emergence. I have reared many moths (mainly hawks and silks) and if they do not get ideal conditions either to shed off their pupal case or a suitable un-obstruct...

On friday 27th I went to the sand pit at Wrecclesham, nr Farnham in the hope of seeing the Glanville Fritillary, a first for me. After breifly surveying it on a google map and thinking i had got it all in my head as to where to go I ended traipsing around for quite a few miles through rough ground, ...

A PBF.JPG Made two trips to Bentley wood, the first on 1st of may and the second on the 7th to see Pearl-bordered fritillary, a species I'd only seen once before at Chiddingfold, Surrey in 2005. Since 2006 I believe they've become extinct in that county. Fortunately there were plenty on show in Ben...

At a quick guess I would say it's from the tiger moth family; perhaps a ruby tiger or Cream-spot tiger or an ermine moth

I would say Privet Hawk-moths are not a bad catch. However if you really want to raise Deaths Head hawks you might like to get along to the Amateur Entomological Traders Fair at Kempton Park; Sunbury on Saturday the 2nd of October (check the A.E.S website). I've been going for over 10 years now and ...

This may be helpful if you decide to rear moth caterpillars in the future: For species which burrow you don't need to use soil or compost. A margarine tub with torn up tissue paper will suffice. Eventually the caterpillar will stop wandering and start to make a loose cocoon with the tissue. Doing it...

Thought I might share these images of a Grayling taken at Dunwich; Suffolk sept 2nd. After initially giving himself away with a short flight the butterfly; either due to being cold or relying on his camouflage (compliments his surroundings perfectly) did not budge even with the camera 'stuck under r...

Hi Paul That was the last of butterfly hunting for this season. Me and the family are off on holiday to Charmouth in Dorset tomorrow. My missus's lack of interest in such subjects (plus her elderly mother in tow) will ensure that I won't get to go off and do my own thing ... fair enough I suppose. C...

Great pictures ...it really lives up to its name.

It's a good job it didn't do that on Izzy's hand. It would've been taking flying lessons!

Thanks Trev. My initail thought was a Dor beetle; but after consulting an old collins library book at work I suspected that he might be a Bloody Nose beetle although he didn't exude any fluids despite being 'knocked about a bit' by me and the kids. "Brilliant" and a bit comical I would say

Nice weather on Sunday presented me with an opportunity to fit in a visit to Noar Hill to try and see the Brown Hairstreak, a butterfly which I had never seen or made a concerted effort to look for. My daughters Francesca aged 9 and Isabella aged 6 agreed to come with me provided I kept my promise t...