![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Does this news mean that there will be a tiny parasitic wasp going by the name eeles soon?
Thanks for the kind words, Neil! Funny you should mention a book ... although it's a couple of years away yet since there are still quite a few gaps to be filled. But I have bounced the idea off a publisher that you might know and he liked itNeil Hulme wrote:Hi Pete
These are all amazing, but the Black Hairstreak caterpillar and Wall pupa are amongst the best (which include your Chequered Skipper pupa) and most fascinating images ever to appear on UKB.
A book focusing entirely on the early stages of British butterflies may at first sound rather limited in appeal, but you are systematically showing that these are things of real beauty, and surely worthy of a lavish publication. In years to come, once even more ground has been covered, I hope you might consider this.
BWs, Neil
Thanks Pauline! Unfortunately, the White-letters are my first casualty since, like yours, they emerged at least 3 weeks before they should have, so I consider this a failure, despite the eggs being kept in the coldest place in our garage. The majority of final instar larvae (a dozen or so) were released, together, on a local elm (we seem to have quite a few round here - the more I look, the more I find!). One observation on that front is that trees that don't push out flowers come into leaf much earlier (and I'm talking 2 or 3 weeks earlier) than their counterparts that do (and will send relevant information to Jamie Burston in Sussex BC next year on this phenomenon as part of his studies). I think this is significant. If it weren't for the non-flowering elms, then I wouldn't have found the leaves the larvae needed but, more importantly, I think this might have implications for the conservation of this species.Pauline wrote:Smashing images of the early stages Pete. When do you expect your WLH and PH to emerge?