Interesting, thanks bugboy. Because they overwinter as pupae,a first brood being late must mean they have locally adapted to emerge from pupae later? Or maybe more likely they just disperse on normal emergence, and only re-colonise the site when the foodplant is suitable? So the larvae there end up ...

I've read in some places that Holly blue is single-brooded in the north. However here in Scotland on the very northern edge of the range it has been clearly double brooded (even a very small number of third brood individuals). I initiated a 2023 postcard and Facebook-based survey for the residents o...

That’s interesting Neil - we had the opposite up here in Scotland with Small tortoiseshell populations collapsing to possibly below that of Comma in many areas, but Peacocks remaining stronger than both. I thought Small T was struggling everywhere- is it appearing to be cyclical where you are?

I would welcome that David, one of my very favourite species and the one I miss most. Selfishly I would like to have it locally again, but I’m not sure what that would mean for the climate in general!

We are getting a new species each year in my area, more often than not, David. Holly Blue, Specked Wood, Wall currently arriving. Expecting Small and Large Skipper, maybe White-letter hairstreak over the next decade. I was co-ordinator for the Millennium Atlas for East of Scotland and plenty has cha...

We only had two Commas all year in our Perthshire garden, but this hutchinsonii female (30th July) was a beauty. Hard to believe that when I lived in Hull around 1995, Comma was at its northern limit there!

We've had some strong southerly gales recently, which means that the areas on oak canopy where Purple hairstreaks lay eggs have been somewhat battered, dropping twigs and branches. I picked up nine twigs with Purple hairstreak eggs off the ground in a fairly short inspection of a local oakwood. Thes...

My three entries:

Thanks Pete!

I've attached a report of my trip for anyone interested.

I was in the Netherlands for a couple of weeks recently, exploring National Parks, and made a good few butterfly records. Just wondering what I should do with them - can anyone advise if there's somewhere to submit them to?

Spring Small white female, Perthshire.

Northern Brown Argus, Sidlaw Hills, Scotland

Small Blue male on geranium, Glamis, Scotland.

It really does depend on what habitats surround you.

I have Small Copper breeding in my garden, and also have Dark Green Fritillary nectaring regularly, and occasional visits from Green Hairstreak and others. But that's because there are wild populations nearby of course!

I believe that they prefer to walk down, based on the fact that in captivity they wander about once ready to pupate. They can move pretty fast - wouldn't take them long to descend. Also I know one excellent site where the south facing boughs overhang a river. It presumably wouldn't be such an excell...

Very little chance - the emerging larvae need to find living oak buds, so unless one is touching the ground near them or they can find and climb an oak tree trunk (both very unlikely), they are probably doomed unfortunately.

Yes I was wondering if it is actually honeydew in all the cases. Honeydew can be sprayed around fairly liberally - for example at a location in the Scottish Borders this year, ground vegetation, fence posts, grass were all coated in it as a result of Giant Willow Aphids in the trees above, attractin...

Very interesting. Looks like it could be alder buckthorn?

I've attached a guide to Purple Hairstreak rearing. There are plenty of variations, but this is my method!

Comments and questions welcome.

Interesting stuff - thanks for sharing and I learned a couple of things. A very light touch I'd say - only a real hardliner could object to that process and the skill is definitely in the photography