A very fine effort Vince. Well done. A delight to read for this enthusiast for Butterfly Life History studies. Searching lowly plants like Medick and Bird's Foot Trefoil can be very productive for the Butterfly breeder. I once found a Common Blue ovum, a half grown Green Hairstreak Larva and a Dingy...

That is a very fine specimen of this beautiful butterfly. Pleased to say the Common Blue has been resident in my own particular little reserve since I bought it twenty years ago. Some years very blue females are more prevalent than those with less blue. Always nice to see them each year. My son and ...

Here's an unusual butterfly observation. Whilst getting one of my old cars MoT-ed on Monday, in the late afternoon heat I observed two butterflies slowly enter the test facility and fly up and settle inside high up within the roof structure. A Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell settling down for the ...

That larva is just about ready to change. The old head is simply an empty shell now. When the old skin splits just behind the head, it's not unusual for the empty shell to remain on the new head as the larva erects its 'horns'. Then looks odd with both heads in place. When skin is completely shed, t...

Still making good progress. When you observe a lighter coloured swelling immediately behind the head, that will be the sign that it is fully fed in its first instar. The 'horns' will be in that swelling. It will then spend a day or so immobile at the leaf tip and stretch to stress the old skin and b...

That's a very good species turn out Chris... whereabouts are you located? Close to or In the middle of woodland and heathland? Only ever seen one Silver Washed Fritillary in my garden. That was during the excessively hot and sunny 1976 when no doubt these butterflies and others ventured down from th...

I have lived in my house since it was built back in early 1972. Had some unusual birds and Butterflies through over the years. The most local and unusual butterfly would be a Wood White which appeared amazingly in my front garden over twenty years ago. By an amazing coincidence, my son and I were di...

Back in my local woods I found the lone purple emperor egg had rather drastically changed colour since I last checked it. I don't know if this means it has died and gone off or is just about to hatch ... I'll soon find out. http://www.guypadfield.com/images2012/irisegg1205.jpg Guy Looking good, jus...

He who dares .... :lol: . .... but not a penny more as these things can be very hard to be 100% certain.... ;). . I have been known to lose the occasional bet. I would not much miss a couple of fivers. However, I do not relish the prospect of eating clothing. So shan't ever go there ... ;) So, offer...

Excellent. They are more reliable indicators. In the top close up, you can see claspers. In the lower two close ups, I cannot see claspers. Having seen those close ups, I believe the original unknown quantity is a female and would wager double my original fiver this time ... but not a penny more as ...

If you could also show magnified close ups of the ends of the abdomens of known sexed WLHs, this should be a more informative and reliable indicator.

All things considered, I'm now leaning towards the specimen in question being a bloated overfed male.

Guy, in your experience, what is their ( WLH ) larval foodplant on mainland Europe? I ask because although I first found pupae on Wych Elms back in the 1950s as a schoolboy, much later when searching for Black and Brown Hairsteak ova on Prunus spinosa [Blackthorn] in the the midlands, I found a sing...

I'm philosophical about this. . Failed Large Copper reintroduction in fenland around Woodwalton . Unless the management of any site addresses the submersion problem of the dead leaves of the Great Water Dock in which the hibernating larvae spend the winter months, any introductions are doomed to fa...

... I'd be interested in any comments on the sex of this white-letter hairstreak. I first thought it was male, from its general appearance, then changed my mind because of the swollen abdomen. However, it appears to have the impress of the sex brand under the forewing. If it really is a female then...

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/download/file.php?id=24278&t=1 Wurzel Lots of good and interesting pictures Wurzel. This one of a Red Admiral on a Thistle leaf bears closer inspection. The Nettle leaf below and behind the insect appears to have two ova on it. Whenever I've seen this butter...

Hi CC - are you talking about Rough Bank? If so it has been bought by Butterfly Conservation see http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/article.asp?PageId=9&ArticleId=283. Lovely site which I visited last year whilst visiting relatives in Watedge last year. Good result for all :D Yes, I knew it ...

Like most households, we tend to get a surfeit of Junk Mail most weeks. Usually someone in the house gathers them all up and when time allows, one of us goes through them. A high percentage of this mail are looking for handouts which I find sad. I decided to check through these with about three doze...

When breeding European Large Tortoiseshells years ago, it was usual for them to enter hibernation in the heat of the summer, after feeding up. Seeking out cooler shelters which I provided. Our own Peacock does this too.
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When the sun went in, she then 'rested' at least 15 feet up on the bow of an oak, but closer inspection of the photograph appears to show her ovipositing here too, which seems unusual? Female SWF's do lay on tree-trunks presumably because there is a greater chance of predation on the ground or that...

I have been a keen observer of all things natural history for over sixty years. Until a couple of years ago, I had never seen one of these in the field let alone in my garden. I first noticed one in my smallish back garden about two or three years ago. Today, during the warm sunny intervals between ...