Flying now????

That's very interesting Z. Around here their hosts (oil beetles are pseudoparasites) are nowhere to be seen therefore the females will not be able to lay...

First oil beetle of the year in the garden today. Unusually early by anyone's standards.

Felix.

My own observations suggest that once roused from hibernation, small tortoiseshells don't re-enter it when it turns cold but simply go torpid, ready to fly again as soon as it turns warm. The difference between hibernation and torpor (as I understand it, which may be wrong) is that the former invol...

We obviously know nothing about butterflies. The following is from the RHS website. :? :? I concur with the general synopsis John. The signs are that this Spring could be amazing for certain species. Just wait until the Marsh Frits emerge, if the weather is favourable for swift larval development i...

I could certainly spend plenty of time over the winter months studing the jizz of various butterflies and honing my skills for the coming season with great pleasure. If that's the birding term, is it not 'giss' (general impression of size and shape). I could be very wrong of course... Perhaps 'jizz...

The maxim de gustibus non est disputandum translates roughly as there is no disputing about tastes meaning in this context that matters of taste are epistemologically subjective and therefore can not be argued about because such things are not objectively right or wrong. Although I am inclined to di...

I'm still not sure what people DO mean by all this The mechanics of different lenses (or different focal lengths/settings on a compact) mean you get certain physical properties (angle of vision, d-o-f, light, etc) captured in the pictures you take. From some of the descriptions here of those "...

I didn't mean to start a big thing... You didn't. It was Celery..! :D The entire issue boils down to butterfly photography as an art form against photographing butterflies as a method of capturing something of scientific value. The two are not (in theory) mutually exclusive but are at opposite ends...

I wonder if we need a different kind of competition altogether - possibly in addition to the current comp which focuses (pun intended) on "good photography". I'd personally be much more interested in something like "interesting observations" when I don't always care about the qu...

Probably not for the photographic competitions Nick (although I am way out of my comfort zone here), but there are things to bear in mind with regard to the species album. A worthy competition winner of great technical and artistic merit may score nil poin for the species albums.

Felix.

Just something that I have acquired en route I guess...

There's almost a parallel to be drawn between the pin-sharp butterfly images we see today and the specimens pinned to the mounting board in the collections of yesteryear. There is indeed a direct parallel Celery..! And I suspect that this is where Guy is coming from. One the one hand there are phot...

Some have 'ER' Guy, and some issues have the silhouette of the monarch's head. Sadly IoM stamps no longer seem to have the 'Three Legs of Mann'.

Felix.

Pete Eeles wrote:The only suggestion I have is to introduce 2 possible categories to address this:

1. Butterflies in their environment.

2. Shoddy photos

I am encouraged by this new category.

What is it about Southwater Woods? I suspect that the culprit in this locality is high temperatures rather than low temperatures. Both extremes (ie day/night 'swings') are not required. High temperatures produce a certain kaleidoscope of aberrations and low temperatures produce others. In some speci...

I'm sure that some of the dark 'abs' recorded in the past are environmentally-induced, due to the conditions outlined above occurring unusually late in the year. Quite possibly, although it's worth mentioning that some colonies produce 'dark' individuals on a regular basis, with 'dark' individuals ...

Hi Jack, 'Tis in the last 24 hours of larval stage and the first 48 hours of pupal stage (or there abouts) that the insect is susceptible to such triggers. It has long been known that extreme shocks of either heat or cold during the last 24 hours of the larval stage and the first 48 hours of the pup...

Hi Susie,

Yes quite possibly, but the frost would have to be very late in the year, i.e. July/August cusp or thereabouts when the larvae are pupating. A late Spring frost would have no impact upon the emergent insect in this respect.

Felix.