Lovely species.

Very very sad to hear this. Martin was a legend in my eyes and a man who was steeped in knowledge. He devoted his life to butterflies......

I can understand that assumption Sij, however, anyone who has tried to rear large numbers of any butterfly species will know how easy it is to get a bacterial or viral infection which can wipe out the whole lot, and they are all herbivores. Imagine the potential for infection when dealing with carn...

This is a very good point. In captivity, Large blue caterpillars will eat the grubs of any Myrmica species. In the wild, any Myrmica species other than sabuleti will recognise the caterpillar as an imposter and kill it very quickly. Happy to try and answer any questions. That's interesting.... that...

Fascinating read. I know that it is m Sabuliti that is the host of the LB, but I wonder would the larvae eat 'any' ant grub in captivity? Would other species of ant grub have the requirments that the LB larvae need.... (taking the adults out of the equation)..

The other day I watched a small white larvae emerge, and, after eating quite a bit of it's own egg shell it then moved onto a large white egg that was next to it and started eating this. This got me thinking; does this happen more often than people think? Does the solitary Small White actively kill ...

Hi I have seen this in a butterfly species, but cannot remember which one! Think it was one of the fritillaries.Sorry i can't be of greater help ha ha

Great images.

I've seen four or five ova on a head. the newley hatched larvae will disable the other ova if they can. They don't 'eat' them as such, but do enough damage to stop development.

I am hoping to photograph a few White Admirals, if lockdown finishes. What is the furthest North this species has spread to? Thats has a population large enough to make it a viable place to take a trip to? Thanks.

I saw the exact same thing a few days ago....this time the pair vanished (after alot of chasing) into a dense bramble clump....this was afternoon, so i assume they mated there as they never reappeared...

Very nice..........

Just watched it...brilliant!

Two brimstone males, a lot fo small torts and peacocks. Actually the most small torts I've seen in Spring for many years.

Peter, I really think you should do a series of DVD's on the various butterflies, maybe how to breed all the full life cycle etc? i'm sure it would be a good seller..

Just a note - Re: Orange-tip I have noticed the 5th instar, prior to crawling-off to pupate, goes down and feeds on the leaves of the Garlic-mustard, rather than the seed-pods. I wondered if anyone else has noticed this behaviour? Hi, I think you have the ID confused. I believe the lower two larvae...

A great diary. very good. Do you happen to know where (if anywhere) I could purchase a copy of the Butterflies of Sussex book?...

Looking at a lot of Commas close up today I noticed that some were smaller than others and some were light in colour and some dark. I have just been looking online thinking that the colour or the size would be a straightforward way of distinguishing genders. Not so it seems. It all seems a bit perp...

Just a note - Re: Orange-tip I have noticed the 5th instar, prior to crawling-off to pupate, goes down and feeds on the leaves of the Garlic-mustard, rather than the seed-pods. I wondered if anyone else has noticed this behaviour? Hi, I think you have the ID confused. I believe the lower two larvae...

Just a note - Re: Orange-tip I have noticed the 5th instar, prior to crawling-off to pupate, goes down and feeds on the leaves of the Garlic-mustard, rather than the seed-pods. I wondered if anyone else has noticed this behaviour? I usually raise a few every year, but have always kept them on stems...