Cotswold cockney wrote: "Years ago, I reared a few Brown Hairstreaks from wild ova and sleeved the five butterflies over a potted Blackthorn. The larvae were well fed on the growing plant and I provided good food for the adults so that they would become sexually mature." It is commonly he...

First Grizzled Skipper sighting recorded in Upper Thames Branch area 22nd April. Any elsewhere?

Any tips for locating GS pupae? Searching in leaf litter at the base of 'likely' plants hasn't been successful to date. Perseverance I expect!

Tom Dunbar

Peter Thanks for the reference to the Elm Report. Very interesting reading. I always assumed English Elm was indigenous. Presumably the WLH was resident before the arrival of the Romans? Perhaps the core colonies are in the old Roman towns? The resistant varieties hold out some hope for the future o...

Black Hairstreak eggs have a reputation for being hard to locate. We have a search party lined up for Saturday so let's hope the weather is kind!

best wishes

Tom Dunbar

Matt I specialise in Brown Hairstreak egg searching rather than Purple. I am determined to improve my technique on Purple and have found Peter Kirby's website at http://www.quercus2.freeserve.co.uk/quercus2main.htm very useful. Peter spoke at the Upper Thames branch Members Day in 2005 and explained...

The concept of a male 'territory' is an interesting one. Do all breeding males set one up? Are territories necessary to the mating process?

Both Upper Thames and West Midlands branches have greatly extended their knowledge of the known range of the species in their areas. Is that evidence that the butterfly has actually extended its breeding range in recent years?

It seems the Black Hairstreak had a population explosion in 2004. How did it fare in 2005?
Were there particularly favourable conditions in 2004?