Mark Tutton wrote:Bullace is used at Steyning too - I think Neil may have said that it is the preferred foodplant here. See http://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/sp ... streak.php
Kind Regards
Mark

Thanks for the info and link, Mark. A good read

ATB

Peter

petesmith wrote:Yes, there is a single specimen of wild plum at Chambers Farm Wood in Lincolnshire, where Brown Hairstreak is plentiful. The wild plum is used almost every year by egg-laying females. I also found a single Black Hairstreak egg on it a few years back.

Thanks for letting me know, Pete.

ATB

Peter

Pretty sure Bullace is used at Steyning Thanks, Paul. Several text books mention Bullace as an alternative food-plant without being too specific, e.g. height on which most eggs are likely to be laid. Interestingly, according to Emmet & Heath's 'The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland' book...

Has anyone witnessed Brown Hairstreak eggs or larvae on wild plum, Bullace Prunus domestica in the UK? Someone reported seeing a female BH in a neighbour's garden near Mardley Heath, about 4 miles south of Stevenage, earlier this year. Follow-up visits from various people yielded more possibilities ...

Pete Eeles wrote:

Vince Massimo wrote:Excellent work, Peter. The construction of a larval shelter is completely new to me. Many thanks for documenting your observations.

Vince

I agree - great work!

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks, Pete. Much appreciated.

ATB

Peter

Excellent work, Peter. The construction of a larval shelter is completely new to me. Many thanks for documenting your observations. Vince You're welcome, Vince. It was fun following the Comma larva's progress although it's a shame it didn't survive though to adulthood but the second pupa probably d...

Hi all, As previously noted, I found a Comma larva on a hazel shrub at the end of July. Here follows a full account of my observations: On a cloudy morning on 26 July 2017, I unexpectedly found a Comma Polygonia c-album larva on Hazel Corylus avellana in a narrow ride in Millennium Wood, Stevenage. ...

I presume Browns are known at the site near you? I found taking pictures rather useful with these (I also do this to passing Whites when I'm recording on my transects so I can get an a confirmed ID). When Browns first started emerging at Bookham this year I took plenty of pictures of Hairstreaks fl...

Hi Peter, Having spent many years of my UK butterflying "career" studying hairstreaks, I couldn't resist replying to this post! My own experience differs a little from your observations. Firstly, I assume that we are only talking about tree-top hairstreaks in flight, so we could probably ...

I have been lucky to have seen all our hairstreaks close-up but I have knowingly seen only White-letters and Purples in flight near the tops of trees. As most of you know, White-letters are usually just dark-brown and smaller than Purples which often show a silvery tint at certain angles from the su...

Nice photos, Goldie. I am sure you will get better luck with the Brown Hairstreaks next year at Gait Barrows.

I believe the flowers are Hemp Agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum.

ATB

Peter

I walked my Stevenage transect this morning in mostly cloudy conditions and therefore few butterflies but I had a big smile on my face by the end of it :D . I had a cursory look at the hazel shrub where I previously discovered a Comma larva which successfully pupated. I was just looking for the leaf...

Fantastic stuff, Pete.

Now I won't have to fork out over £300 for Frohawk's two-volume masterpiece

ATB

Peter

Sadly, the Comma pupa is no longer with us. It was in this state for up to 2 days only. From what I have read, about 50% of pupae for British butterflies do not make it to adulthood. Perhaps mortality rates change for different broods. It is known that larvae raised from hutchinsoni Commas develop f...

Well done Peter for keeping track of the larva. I have reared or monitored both broods of Comma larvae and found that they tend to have the same colouration. Only once have I encountered a pale larva, (in July 2013) but it gave rise to a normal adult. IMG_8480-01G.jpg Vince Thanks for the info, Vin...

The Comma larva has now pupated so it appears it went through four stages, the last one (4th instar) lasting about 2 weeks. Is the colouring slightly different for 4th instar larvae raised from hutchinsoni adults?

ATB

Peter

A unusual Meadow Brown on my local patch with upper hindwings suffused with white but unfortunately refused to open its wings on settling on the grass. ATB Peter Looks more like a Gatekeeper to me :) You're right, Paul. Well done for spotting it. I went back to the spot today and saw the butterfly ...

A unusual Meadow Brown on my local patch with upper hindwings suffused with white but unfortunately refused to open its wings on settling on the grass.

ATB

Peter

Thanks, Pete. I have actually got that AES publication myself :oops: . Looking through all my several county guides there is one instance of a Comma larva on hazel in the wild. Ken WIllmott found one in Chiddingfold Forest in Surrey (no date given) referred to in the 'Butterflies of Surrey Revisited...

There's a little voice at the back of my head that keeps saying I've read somewhere that hazel is an occasional LHP for Commas. I'm gonna have to go through my books when I get home now as it's bugging me! Well, Paul, try 'A Resource-based Habitat View for Conservation - Butterflies in the British ...