Hello Dave and all, Great photos, I suspect theses strands and the adhered grass stems are as a result of wet conditions(?) At the time of the egg being laid, was the grass wet, had it recently rained? Looking at rainfall radar for that day it looks like you may have had a shower in the afternoon on...

Ok here is the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YqZ9U222zM[/video]

Just thought you may be interested to see what I found on Wed
It looks like ab. juncta I understand the aberration is caused by a recessive gene.

Video coming soon

Interesting how variable sites can be. It sounds like Aston Rowant is like Malling Down, Lewes East Sussex, teeming with silver-spotted skippers . On Wed morning I counted well over 70 in just 35 min! During thewhole period I was there there were probably many 100s! I then expect other sites to have...

Interesting to see what Mark and Andy saw at Mill Hill. Could be worth keeping an eye out for Silver-spotted Skippers at Mill Hill and Anchor Bottom. They were recorded just around the corner at Faulking Hill in 2009 and they are spreading west. The next most westerly population in Sussex is over at...

More from Oxfordshire - 25th July I walked along the 'earthwork' on the ridge of Sliding Hill near Swyncombe this afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny day and the hillside was a carpet of wild flowers, with many attendant butterflies. The most abundant lepidoptera were, however, Forester Moths and a...

Many thanks Dave, it does look as if it may be turnip sawfly (Athalia rosae) - it seems to have at least 6 pseudopods yet A. rosae apparently has 7 ..... but it's a bit tricky to tell from the photo. See http://www.inra.fr/hyppz/IMAGES/7030842.jpg for a photo of turnip sawfly from INRA (http://www.i...

Is this a small mico-moth who's catterpillars feed on water weed?

Spent much of today lying down on 30 degree slope looking for larvae or pupa - I got bloody sore elbows from the dry chalky ground and the stem-less thistles! :evil: But I found what I was looking for: 2011_0711_131051.jpg First I found the silky web above then this fully grown Silver-spotted Skippe...

There has certainly been a recent influx of Humming Bird Hawks saw more than 5 this morning and heard of many others seeing them. Has anyone seen a Silver-spotted Skipper yet? I know it is early but with so many species being early I think it is possible some could be out any day (last years first I...

Looks a bit worn and I believe they vary could anyone confirm if this is or is not a Dark Brocade?

This warm weather is certainly bring things out.
Small Coppers are doing well as are Grizzled Skippers. Orang tips tailing off a bit.
Had a look for Silver-spotted Skipper larvae and found one

3 Painted Ladys and first 2011 House Martins.

Crispin

Following receiving the email from Martin and reading about it, from both links, I chose to copy and paste his email as the first item in this thread. I then removed it as I decided not to just copy and past his email addressed to BC committee members. I instead chose replace it by text which I thou...

TEXT EXTRACTED FROM http://www.38degrees.org.uk It was revealed that the government might scrap vital laws which protect wildlife and the countryside and help stop climate change. Hardliners have branded the rules ‘red tape’ and say they could be scrapped within months. We need to work together to m...

Crispin, some to get you started. as with all my ID's there is a disclaimer that they could be wrong :) 1. episyrphus balteatus 4. xysticus sp. 5. tegenaria sp 9. Early Thorn 10. possibly Agonopterix arenella 22. square spot rustic 27.Pyralis farinalis 29. araneus diadematus 31-35 Salticus scenicus...

Hi Here is an album of photos I have taken of various species, mostly insects, most of them I have yet to identify. https://picasaweb.google.com/113445531610372093342/SpeciesToID?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3D7YnAjsf7pgE# Once identified I intend to put them into MapMate then on to Sussex Biodiversity Records C...

Coo! What amazing weather! Been assisting a team looking for Adonis larva at Malling Down this afternoon. Looks like they are in their final instar and their quite easy to find. 2011_0419April0005.jpg 2011_0419April0006.jpg Other species seen there today included: Grizzled Skippers, Large Whites, Sm...

Great photo Neil. Now here is my rather poor effort: OT.jpg Orange Tips must be at their peak there were at least 5 M and 1F when I visited my parents place on Sunday. Also on the list was L. White, S. White, Holly Blue & Peacock. Still quite a few Dotted Bee flies in their garden, which I can n...

2 Painted Lady chasing Kingston near Lewes. Also Holly Blue, S. Tort, Peacock, Orange Tip, S. White & Brimstone & possible L. Wight.

Loads of Orang tips today.

22.6c 100% sun - It is like summer!


But it is dry

...... no brown Argus colonies in Middlesex existed at that time. (liz might be able to shed some light on the then and current distributiion changes) what i was wondering, has it spread? if so is this spread due to climate? according to Uk butterflies "This species occurs in small, compact co...