Padfield

[Padfield]

Up at 06h00, down the hill and off to Italy for a nettle tree hunt.

The forecast was for mostly sunshine with some cloud. At both my sites it was almost permanently overcast, with some sunny intervals. I suspect this is because I was in the hills and the clouds were clinging to the relief. For this reason I spent a lot of time waiting between bouts of frenetic butterfly activity. They had to fit all their wooing, mating, laying and basking into two-minute bursts!

At first it looked as if I wouldn't see very much at all. Large tortoiseshells were the commonest species, flying regardless of the clouds. A few brimstones drifted past when the sun came out. Then, scanning a nettle tree I spotted my target, silhouetted against the sky:



I positioned the butterfly against the blue and when the sun showed briefly got a through-shot:



That was the first of many, but no real photo opportunities. I'm still waiting for that perfect celtis shot ... All these are from a considerable distance, with zooming and cropping:











The other species I knew I would see at these sites was green hairstreak:





Once the day had hotted up there were plenty of these around.

The full day list: small white, orange tip, brimstone, wood white, small copper, green hairstreak, holly blue, large tortoiseshell, Camberwell beauty, small tortoiseshell, peacock, comma, nettle tree butterfly, wall.

Here's one of the wood whites ...



... and a large tortoiseshell:



Today's trip brought my year total to 30 species.

Guy

[David M]

Today's trip brought my year total to 30 species.

Now, remind me of what you were saying the other day with regard to being behind the UK?

Seriously though, your Nettle Tree excursion was well worth the effort. For me, this is one of western Europe's most fascinating butterflies. I have limited experience of it, but I recall being similarly frustrated by the subject's propensity to tease you from above head height! You have done pretty well to capture it factoring in those chagrins.

The Green Hairstreaks look absolutely gorgeous. The way things are going over here, I suspect it won't be long before some are spotting this species in the UK.

[Wurzel]

Still mighty fine shots of the Nettler Guy , that outline is really distinctive and a great combination of colours, definitely one on my 'most wanted' list
Have a goodun

Wurezl

[Padfield]

Thanks David and Wurzel. Yes - nettle tree butterfly was on my own most wanted list for a long time. I saw my very first one with Roger in the South of France in 2004, then a few years ago discovered my present site in Italy, where they fly in good numbers. Like Duke of Burgundies, nettle tree butterflies can be sexed by the legs. Females have six while males have only four.

I had to work this morning but was able to get down to the valley in the afternoon, now term has finished. I mainly wanted to see my first grizzlies of the year, having seen none in Italy on Saturday. There they were, buzzing around and just occasionally basking in the afternoon sun:





These are Pyrgus malvoides. Pyrgus malvae flies on my local mountain but doesn't appear until April. The two are indistinguishable by sight, but easily told apart by site!

Also new for the year (for me) were green-veined white and southern small white. As I arrived, a few of both species were flying around damp rock and mud, taking minerals. I took this one shot into the sun - then didn't see any more settled for the rest of the afternoon:



Guy

[Padfield]

It is getting light enough in the evenings now to go down to the woods after school. I did that today, just in case I could find a purple emperor caterpillar positioning itelf for the great awakening. As it turned out, I did better. Some of the sallows were already in leaf so I scanned for tatty edges and soon spotted this leaf clump, high in a tree:



There is some other insect at the top left, but this is not responsible for the leaf damage - and it soon flew off. The furtive muncher is the purple emperor caterpillar on its brand new resting leaf at the bottom right:



It was some 7m or 8m up the tree and I couldn't get a better angle without moving further away, but these shots at least leave no doubt about the ID:





Feeding already in March! That's exceptionally early.

This season's cats are all named after South Park characters. Kenny, Cartman and Stan's Mum are all presumed dead. Let us hope Kyle (for it is he) does better.

Other species flying were whites, commas and red admirals. I'm pretty sure I saw a violet fritillary but it was in flight and from the view I had I couldn't be sure it wasn't a Queen of Spain. They usually reach the mountains during March.

Here is a brown hairstreak egg, waiting for the blackthorn leaves to sprout (those are flower buds in the background):



Guy

[Art Frames]

Hi Guy

Your pictures of the Nettle Tree Butterfly are really inspiring. I hope it will be one that I see on a trip to Hungary. It would be a highlight if I do.

But to spot a PE caterpillar at 7m and to share a worthwhile shot. I am really impressed.

kind regards

[Padfield]

Thanks Peter. I hope you get your nettle tree butterflies in Hungary - and much more besides! Gliders are quite high on your list, I imagine ...

Like most things, finding purple emperor caterpillars is chiefly a matter of experience. I found my first one seven years ago and now feel I have my eye in. Before I found that first one I spent hours searching in vain. At each stage of their caterpillar life they leave characteristic feeding patterns. Immediately after hibernation, the pattern is essentially guzzling fresh leaves as fast as they can. They haven't eaten since October and are very hungry.

Guy

[Padfield]

Windy and hazy - even overcast much of the time - in the valley today, but warm. The weather made photography difficult but did not deter the butterflies it seemed, at least until mid-afternoon, when it deteriorated. It was the first day of the holiday for me, so I set off with a free heart just to see what I would see (OK - I did have Camberwell beauties in mind ...). The day list gives an idea of how the spring is progressing here: swallowtail and scarce swallowtail, small, green-veined, Bath and wood whites, orange tip, brimstone, clouded yellow, green hairstreak, holly blue, Queen of Spain, comma, large tortoiseshell, small tortoiseshell, peacock, Camberwell beauty, red admiral, speckled wood, dingy skipper and grizzled skipper.

Here are a few piccies:




(one of several rather tatty Camberwell beauties - they had seen a few fights between them!)


(dingy skipper)


(southern grizzled skipper)


(swallowtail)


(Queen of Spain)


(another Queen of Spain, with slightly asymmetrical markings on the wings)


(large tortoiseshell)


(another)


(small tortoiseshell)


(comma)


(wood white)




(orange tip)


(invasion of privacy! The little beetles do not seem too impressed ...)


(brimstone)


(eastern Bath white)

Guy

[Wurzel]

Tatty or not they are still stunning looking butterflies Guy Beautifully marked OT as well

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Wow, what a list for the last day of March. I can't help but drool a little bit whenever I see a picture of a Camberwell, no matter how tatty they are

[David M]

I think it's at times like this when I am most envious of you, Guy. You have such a wide-ranging plethora of species even at this time of year.

Even though it's been mild here lately, I doubt if anyone could realistically achieve double figure species in a day at a single site.

[Padfield]

Thanks Wurzel, Buggy and David. Curiously, almost all yesterday's butterflies are on the British list and two, Camberwell beauty and (eastern) Bath white, bear the names of places in England (British specimens of Bath white are generally understood to be the eastern species, not the western one). Only the southern grizzled skipper has never been seen in the UK and this is so similar to the British grizzled skipper it almost counts as that.

Not for my year list though ... For that, I split. Today I saw malvae, as opposed to malvoides, on my local patch - identified simply by the fact I know that is the species that flies here:



Here is a very slightly better picture of Kyle:



Guy

[David M]

Where is the European Maginot line for malvae and malvoides, Guy?

[Padfield]

Where is the European Maginot line for malvae and malvoides, Guy?

It's a north-south thing. Spain, the bottom third of France and all of Italy have malvoides. North of this line it is all malvae. The line passes right through Switzerland, as shown in these two maps - malvae above, malvoides below:



These are taken from the Swiss fauna mapping website, here: https://lepus.unine.ch/carto/.

Guy

[David M]

I wasn't expecting such a comprehensive response, Guy, so thanks for providing it.

I notice there seems to be a tiny bit of 'overlap' in both the south west and the far east. I wonder if the two hybridise here?

[Padfield]

I don't know if they hybridise, David. I don't really even know how accurate these maps are, given that most observers identify by location anyway. The Swiss recorder was with me once when I netted a grizzly in such a region, and he asked me if I minded handing over the butterfly for him to take home and (kill and) identify formally. He understood completely when I said I couldn't do that. I let the little creature fly away.

A few spring piccies from today:


(orange tip)


(dingy skipper)


(southern grizzled skipper)


(baton blue)


(violet fritillary)


(green hairstreak)


(Camberwell beauty)


(speckled wood)

It was a hot day. 24 species were flying altogether, including four new for the year (baton blue, violet fritillary, Berger's clouded yellow and de Prunner's ringlet). I was surprised not to see chequered blue, which I have seen as early as 15th March, or mallow skipper. The season is advancing fast but it is still not really early.

Guy

[bugboy]

I promised not to greenman anyone after my day but that Camberwell is so tempting, maybe I'll go searching for one of them tomorrow, I might be on a roll

[Padfield]

Good luck with the beauty-hunting, Buggy!

Meet Mr Mackey:



He is actually low enough for me to pull down his branch and get a closer look. I didn't do this, however, because I didn't want to disturb him while eating. I think even just my presence disturbed him. When I passed again half an hour or so later, he was in resting pose:



Between these shots, I checked Kyle was still alive. He was:



Mr Mackey is in a secluded part of the forest I have often searched before but where I have never found anything. As more leaves open I might find more little emperors there.

Guy

[David M]

Have we a full complement of named 2017 PE cats, Guy, or are you expecting to find a few more and add them to this year's 'cast'?

[Padfield]

Have we a full complement of named 2017 PE cats, Guy, or are you expecting to find a few more and add them to this year's 'cast'?

I hope to find some more, David, as that's only two alive at the moment. There was high mortality this year (i.e., last summer/autumn) among eggs and early instar larvae and I only followed one, Kenny, into the winter. He was taken before Christmas. The caterpillars are relatively easy to locate in late April/early May. But I'm back in Suffolk right now for Easter, so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for Kyle and Mr Mackey till my return. They have a habit of going AWOL when I'm away!

Guy