Nice story Guy. You did the right thing. Although the wings can be fully expanded within minutes of leaving the pupa, larger Butterflies like these need about 24 hours to fully harden off. If they take flight before the wings have dried out, the wings can fracture near the base and they can never re...

Nice one.

So, 'she' was a male after all ...

My old Spirea/Spiraea is in full flower now. The distinctive blossoms are easy to spot when out and about where rivularis flies. For anyone who is not familiar with this attractive little shrub which can reach a couple of metres in height, the flowers are a useful identifier and easy to spot in a mi...

Guy, I found more earlier stages of rivularis on Spirea rather than the "Goatsbeard" plants which look like my Astilbe. If you see any Spirea in the area where rivularis is found, worth checking those plants. It's over thirty years since I bred any Fritillaries but that larva you picture, ...

Erebia christi ! An obsession with the late Peter Cribb. Back in the 70-80s, had a few 'butterfly trips with Cribb and a few other butterfly enthusiasts. In 1981, we spent some time looking at various Erbia and that craggy scree pictured earlier is vaguely familiar. I was less interested in these Er...

Amazing to see so much snow in July!! I'm glad I left my trip to the Austrian Alps till later this month now, where hopefully I'll be surrounded by similar stunning scenery. In July-August 1981 when I was last in the area, we set up tent and camp on a hot late summer evening and then turned in very...

Garden Observations ~ or more precisely, lack of them :~ Despite superb weather conditions over the past couple of days here in Gloucestershire, clear blue skies without any cloud, not seen a single Butterfly of any description through the garden or anywhere as I drive about. I suspect the six month...

Garden Observations ~ or more precisely, lack of them :~ Despite superb weather conditions over the past couple of days here in Gloucestershire, clear blue skies without any cloud, not seen a single Butterfly of any description through the garden or anywhere as I drive about. I suspect the six month...

Had not used one of my old cars for a few weeks but, needing one with a Tow Bar, checked the tyres on my Rover 620ti before the trip to recover an old MG. My tyre check revealed this poor unfortunate creature on one of the alloy wheel rims. See attached. Well, it was nearly a butterfly. The little o...

Always hard to say from a two dimensional image, going strictly on the curvature of the abdominal segments, he might be a she ...

Always good to hear from you, CC, and very interesting, as ever. The foodplant at the site I know seems to be Aruncus dioicus , and though this is in Italy the Swiss books indicate that the butterfly is also invariably associated with this host in its Swiss outposts (mostly in the Tessin). It's par...

. Next, up the hill to my Hungarian glider site - not that I expected to see any today, in this late year. Still the wind blew and most things stayed down, but I added small heath, wood white and another red admiral to the day list. The goatsbeard - the Hungarian glider foodplant - was not in evide...

At last, the first butterfly sighting in my garden this year today :~ http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/Natural%20History/VariousSaturday20thApril2013009_zps2def7fdd.jpg Yesterday, a dark butterfly dashed across my windscreen as I was driving at about 40 mph. One of the winter Hibernator...

Quite a sobering image, Mike. Let's not forget, it's 26th March!! You might occasionally expect an extreme weather event to strike for a day or two, but this one arrived last week and is due to last beyond Easter. Hopefully there'll be some 'payback', and by that I don't mean a solitary hot week in...

Knowing our interests in things Natural Industry, one of my sons' friends who is in the RAF frequently travels to warmer climates. On arrival back at Brise Norton recently, using his phone, took a picture of this non-paying fare passenger in one of the transport planes and sent it to my son via face...

Heads up ~ BBC 4 Right Now Channel 9 on Freeview ~The incredible story of the Monarch Butterfly.

Remarkable footage that, Bob, given the fact that it's still January. Larvae are hard enough to find in July! Evidence that you can successfully observe butterflies in the dead of the UK winter. Now search the January Sallows for hibernating A.iris larvae. Easier to spot with no leaves on the shrub...

badgerbob wrote: .
The site is in full sunshine and protected from the breeze which also helps.

Regards.
Bob.

Ahah ... a micro micro-habitat... Time and again I'm amazed how insects can successfully seek out those more favourable micro sites.
.

Nice to see the Dipper( Cinclus cinclus ) - an elusive bird that rarely hangs around for a photo! I have watched them do their famous trick of walking into the water and then along the bottom, in Welsh streams. Mike Dippers are well named.. :) Quite a frequent sight up on the nearby hills in the be...

No butterflies but this afternoon it was warm enough in Sidmouth, Devon for a couple of flies to be sunning themselves Here in Glorious Gloucestershire we had a pleasant period of low winter sunshine in mid afternoon. I noticed two or three of those apparently same species of "Bluebottle"...