Nipped over to Chi for the morning where a single male Queen of Spain Fritillary was on the wing. Fantastic! Many thanks to Robert, John, BC etc for being very open about these most excellent creatures Also a number of Painted Ladies and Red Admirals about.

Alexander

Thanks for the link Nick, that's an idea I've not come across before. If anyone wishes to skip straight to the full pdf paper then here's a link. I'll give it a read next week when I have a chance.

http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/pre ... /cm702458p

Alexander

Has the Scotch Argus been introduced to Lindrick Common? I was of the understanding that in England it could only be found at Smardale and Arnside...

.... hopefully the new system next month will reduce the heartbreak considerably. Don't worry Charles, no heartbreak, it takes good photographs to get votes in this comp. However, not one other person voted for two of those that I did which surprised me. They were the Southern WA by Bill S and Gray...

Pete Eeles wrote: 2. There have been no sightings (that I'm aware of) of Queen of Spain in the British Isles this year.

One was found in a small wood by an old railway line in West Sussex on July 14th. They managed a good photograph too!

http://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/ol ... l2009.html

Yes the Bluebells at Spithandle are super. I was going to go and have a look for Purple Emperors there this year but in the end the trip got left out. Why can't they have a longer flight season?!

PS you have a PM!

I used to live in P Green too Jack! When you lived that way, could you cycle along the old railway line to Southwater? Lovely place to combine a bike ride and a little butterfly spotting

Alexander

Sounds like a good project to me :) Just posted a couple of photographs and it seems to have worked. Not sure about the Location/Date code though, that is still displayed in the description, is this correct? My only suggestion is that in the same way as the species pages of the site, it would be goo...

3 Painted Ladies and a Grayling

Coppiced woodland now makes up only a very small amount of our woods. I think it is important for us to try to hold on to species which require it and not to let them disappear. We have lots of woods which receive little or no management, these are often best for our wildlife but a balance must be s...

Cool, nice work there Pete. I have read about this but never seen it so thanks for posting. ...Did it smell of rotten pineapple?

Steyning circular walk: I had a good walk around Steyning (Sussex) today, firstly taking in the old rifle range. I had hoped to find Brown Hairstreak here but I think it just wasn't sunny enough. A fair number of Wall Brown were seen on the downland slope - these were difficult to approach. Other s...

Hi Garry, it's a Painted Lady . They are migrants and so are often pretty worn by the time they reach the British Isles, especially if they go all the way to Scotland! Pearl-bordered Fritillaries are much smaller butterflies with rounded wings and less black markings on the forewings. Have a look on...

It's a Magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata).

Alexander

Hi,

the butterfly is indeed a worn Meadow Brown (female). No 2 is a Drinker moth larva. Not sure about no 1. Here is a website that has a good selection of moth larvae photographs at various stages of development.

http://www.ukleps.org/Indexcntax.html

Alexander

Hi Rob,

Your butterfly is a Silver-studded Blue

AH

I think Nigel you are going to be a little too late unfortunately.

I had a look around today and did not see any skippers in the meadows although it was windy. I did find a single Essex Skipper in the garden though which was on its last legs and had a missing forewing.

Hi Mike, The flower looks like Purple Loosestrife to me. Have a look at the apex of the upperside of the butterfly's forewing. The grey smudge is characteristic of Small White. In the Large White it is darker and extends along the outer margin of the wing (ie downwards). You can compare the two near...

Hi Nigel, I'm not particularly familiar with butterflies in the Midlands, although I did see a couple of Essex Skippers in Austrey at the end of July. I reckon they'll still be on the wing now. I may be able to check and post back here for you as I'm in Austrey this weekend. Austrey Meadows is a ser...

Indeed, well done that man! An excellent image too, especially given the conditions described.

http://huntphotography.wordpress.com/