This was the year I realised that the Orange-tip probably owes its beautiful scaling to roosting in Cow Parsley. I found 3 or 4 in early evening roosting in this plant in the second half of their flight period. Although the close up is on Garlic Mustard.

Similarly, a Painted Lady on the Essex Coast on the 23rd: http://www.cambs-essex-butterflies.org. ... gs2015.php

My only Meadow Brown photo rather than my favourite. It was the largest prey taken by a crab spider that I have seen.

I thought I read somewhere of a possible cause of the English extinction being climate change maturing/drying the Purple Moor Grass too early so that the butterfly was unable to complete its life cycle in England (or make it to winter?). based on the state of Molinia on dry Essex heathland, it still...

Some Scottish Marsh Frits -

winkled out of the sward in cool weather A sheltering female, worryingly easy to walk on

Pete Eeles wrote: Nice work, Essex- Pete

Incredible work with the larvae, Peter!
Thanks also, David

I was hoping for a Small Pearl-bordered to join in, but in truth I was struggling with this duo at Glasdrum in June

HB Jermaines2rs.jpg I had a particularly fruitful transect for Holly Blues this year at Great Warley, Essex. There was a nice horseride between Jermaines Wood and the M25 that was very steamy after overnight rain and attracted 15 Holly Blues one morning. These two were ignoring the main fayre on of...

Saw a report of a Holly Blue yesterday in North-east Essex

I was just approaching the QEII Bridge from the Essex side of the M25 just before noon today. Conditions were foggy and about 11 deg. C, when a nymphalid flew past my windscreen. It was heading west, so assume it was a migratory Red Admiral. About half an hour before, I had seen a Small Copper at Li...

Bugboy could be right, but there's also Araneus quadratus to consider - it's the heaviest UK species. Both species are variable.

best wishes

Bob, I'm sure that I speak for most in that we are amazed by the level of searching that you do for this species. Thanks for sharing with us. I am a keen exponent of the development trap theory, as it's a huge mechanism that would have a large impact and seems to fit the experience at many Uk and No...

I was really hoping to find a Lulworth Skipper or two, which would be a lifer for me, but sadly I was either too late or particularly unobservant. That said there were a large number of other species around, including significant numbers of fresh Adonis Blues. Please let me know if I was unlucky or...

The ID looks sound to me, judging by UKleps.org. It overwinters as a pupa, so your final instar larva suits. Wide range of food plants and sometimes a pest of tomato plants, as Pauline has found!
Regards

There's a few possibles if it's really faded, but I think it's Udea lutealis. It is common and the location suits.
http://ukmoths.org.uk/species/udea-lutealis/

regards

found a belated Purple Haristreak today at Mill Green Common, Essex. At first sight, the blackberries didn't seem ripe enough and on closer inspection, she was more interested in a small piece of mildew(?) growing on the stem.

I'm seeing a lot more Holly Blues around at the moment, suggesting they are at the high point of their cycle. Are others noticing the same? I've been doing a run-of-the-mill transect near Brentwood since 2009 and have had a previous high count of 7, in the summer of 2010. However, my last 4 counts h...

Sounds as if it could be a Yellow Shell moth. they are highly variable in colour with yellows and browns.
there's also a lot of Mother-of-Pearls about too, and they are nettle feeders.

Emperor moth would be my guess too. They seem quite locally distributed in Essex away from the sea walls, but there are recent records for large unimproved grassland sites in urban areas - Wanstead Flats and the Beam Valley in Dagenham. So near Walthamstow, they probably still use the heaths in Eppi...

They are both Sitochroa Palealis - a lovely moth. They are just out on the Essex sea walls too and feed on wild carrot. They are prone to variation, although you've probably got the two extremes there.