Lovely butterfly, only Northern Irish one I haven't seen yet!

Hope you enjoy the sun!

Flying in Glencairn Park, Belfast yesterday were 3 Cryptic Wood Whites, 3 Orange-tips, my first Small Copper of the year - and two Speckled Woods. A quite fresh-looking female Speckie curved her abdomen round a grass blade but looking afterwards I didn't find any eggs (d'oh!)

Enjoy the sun everyone!

Might be one of the Noctuid moths judging by the size and colour. If you still have it, you could put it in some damp newspaper in a box and see what emerges - let us know if you find out!

Sam

Congratulations Hoggers! It has been quite a mild winter so far - sadly not great for bringing Waxwings over! I could say I saw 2 Cinnabar pupae, 2 Buff Ermine pupae, one Flame Carpet pupa ... but that would be cheating as they're all overwintering in jars of compost in my back yard! I'm going to be...

Not a single butterfly for me this month, and a very poor October for Nornian butterflies in general.
O to be on the Isle of Wight hunting that Long-tailed Blue!!!!!

I see what you mean - unless it's characteristic of mariscolore (that being an Norn Irish boyo like!)

I also wondered if the ground colour on the underwings was lacking in colour / paler than usual. Orange scales absent here too maybe?

Hi all! I found this little fellow in Murlough on Sunday, nectaring on devilsbit scabious. His underwings were so bright that at first I mistook him for a white. Closer inspection revealed something interesting. http://millar153.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/11p8141248a-common-blue-aberration-600x451....

Hi,
Is this your suspect? It's a Buff-tip moth caterpillar.
http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=987
Hope this helps
Sam

No, I must have been half asleep when I wrote that. What's the underside of an Orange Moth like, does anyone know?
If all else fails we can say it was Green-veined White that got caught in a paintball fight between Prince Harry and the County Kerry Pantymime Horse.



Sam

I found this boyo in Murlough NNR, feeding on devils bit scabious. Is there a scientific/taxonomic term for an aberration like this? And was it caused by heat?
Sam

Despite the cloud and rain, a short walk in Willow park, Basildon, yielded 20-30 large Skippers,1 Burnet companion, 2 Speckled wood, 2 unidentifed white, around a dozen Meadow Brown, and the one below which I'm undecided about. Thought it might be a Heath, but none of my sources confirm. Rich poss ...

:mrgreen: I'm green-as-a-Green-Hairstreak with envy! Or empathic joy. 200 Heath Frits?! Wonderful photos. Report from the magical land of Nornia (Northern Ireland) - somebody saw a Brimstone last month (very rare here), and the Large Heaths are coming out. Orange tips and Small Heaths exploded every...

Clouded Yellow maybe?

20 Small Torts in Lagan Meadows, Belfast today! Up to their usual tricks - males chasing females, males sitting behind females, males dancing with females etc etc! No Orange Tips though - maybe 16:30 a bit late in the day despite the glorious sun - but a few micros about. Saw a migrant warbler on my...

Saw my first butterfly of the year in Belfast on 16 March. It was a dozy Small Tort, resting on a sunny windowledge. I got it onto my finger to show the lads. It tried to fly away but hadn't the energy, gave up, and landed on my friend's shirt. We all said his new brooch suited him very nicely! :) A...