Pauline

[millerd]

It was lovely to see you again, Pauline - I shall refrain from publishing the action photos... Great shots of familiar butterflies - you did better than I with the purple angle!

Cheers,

Dave

[Pauline]

Thank you Dave on all accounts It was lovely to see you again too. I shall be returning (very soon) for one final shot at the PE's.

Cheers Goldie - the WLH's were everywhere. This weather is just crazy!

Cheers Wurzel - I can sympathise and empathise. After decades working as business analyst for central Gov I am now enjoying my freedom

Thank you too David but I'm not too sure about that. In this heat it will be interesting to see just how long the season actually is.

I have some reasonable shots of Purple Hairstreaks with open wings from previous seasons but I have not managed to achieve any this year so that was my target today. We arrived on site at around 9.15am only to receive information from another observer to the effect that I was 4 hours too late!! He had taken his at 5.00am. Temperatures were already high, there was a strong breeze and the butterflies alternated between frantic activity and hiding away under leaves. Any attempts at opening wings were thwarted by the strong wind. Many of the butterflies were already showing considerable signs of wear and I did not observe any of them interacting with larva. In these conditions photography was difficult if not impossible. I guess those open wing shots will have to wait for another time .........

BTW, it was good to see several Grayling were flying around but not stopping.

[Pauline]

Just a quick update on the Puss Moth larva. He has shed his skin now for the second time making him 3rd instar I guess. Yeah, I know you've seen this before but you haven't seen this one Look at the size of the skin he has to eat!!! Seriously, I've seen them eating the skin plenty of times now but I've never seen them shed it which is what I am trying to do right now!

Notice the flagellae protruding from the 'tails' which is what they do when a threat is percieved. The threat wasn't me - just a strong gust of wind.

[David M]

You may not have obtained the open-winged images you were seeking, Pauline, but you've done one hell of a job getting so close for those PH underside shots. Fantastic effort!

PS - that Puss Moth larva is becoming quite scary!

[Andrew555]

I'm still seeking better PH shots as well Pauline, you still have some lovely side views.
Your Puss moth is pretty incredible looking.

[Pauline]

Thank you David and Andrew. To me, the Puss Moth is equivalent to the PE in the moth world. Fantastic looking creature which can spit formic acid, how could I not post a few more shots:

...and by way of size comparison the Puss Moth larva with the Sallow Kitten larva (both about the same age):

[Pauline]

I didn't see either of the PE abs today! I didn't even manage an open-winged shot of the PE today. I don't think anyone did although there were enough of them about. I probably saw about 10 of which 4 came to the ground, a few for quite some time, but with wings clamped tightly shut! Still, worth a few shots despite their choice of cuisine:

[Pauline]

I thought that just for a change I would post a few random images taken as I looked for other species in the last week or so:

White Admiral

Comma

Worse for wear Speckled Wood

DGF - getting nowhere near to that perfect shot

Beautiful demoiselle male (I think)

A creche of Shield Bugs?

A couple of Skippers, Large and Small:

after an early evening watching PE I stopped off at Broxhead and was surprised to see the SSB still active just after 7.00pm:

Common Blue Damselfly?

Green-veined White in the garden:

Guess I'd better stop now

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

I love the images of the Puss Moth Larva, brings back memories of when I used to find them as a nipper

Great shots of the Purple Hairstreaks and Emperors too and particularly that White Admiral underside

All the best,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cracking sets of random shots Pauline and blinding Emperor ones too I reckon that is a Beautiful and not Banded

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

I just love that image of the Green Veined White with the ethereal green background, Pauline. Beautiful composition.

You seem to be doing rather well with the colour purple right now too.

[Pauline]

Thank you for your lovely comments Neil . Hope you're having a good weekend. Stand by for some moths next

Cheers Wurzel - still haven't managed that quadruple purple yet! Bumped into Philzoid today (you probably already know that by now )

I liked that one too David. I'm not doing too bad this year with the PE it's true - probably seen more than I ever have in one season but all very unco-operative . I was looking today too and was totally alone (initially) when I found one settled on the ground. Now in all my years looking at PE's I have only ever seen an Empress twice so I am not sure about the ID of this one but whichever way I turned, and whether the butterfly was in sun or shade, I could catch no glimpse of purple - just a velvety brown. Unfortunately she had a large chunk out of her wing but I wonder if either yourself, or some other expert, could confirm the gender please?

I saw a couple of others at The Straits (which was very crowded) but they were doing that skittish thing, running anlong the gravel and pausing for 3 secs so I won't post any more shots. Great to see you again Nick.

[Mark Tutton]

Hi Pauline
looks good for a male to me - bold underside markings, wings not 'rounded' and the white border spots on hind wings a bit dull - stand to be corrected tho. There are good numbers of females out at Alice Holt - saw six yesterday.
Kind regards
Mark

[Pauline]

Hi Mark - very happy to take your word for it - you've been watching Emperors too long to get it wrong . You forget that I have personally seen you identify a female at quite some distance tho' how you do it I'm not sure

[Pauline]

Last night for the third time this season I put out the moth trap, hoping for better than last time. The first thing I saw when I opened it was a Hornet which made my heart sink. Some might remember last year the death and destruction caused by one of these in the trap, one of the victims being that gorgeous Burnished Brass. As I began to explore the contents I was pleasantly surprised. I had 3 Elephant Hawk-moth . Now that is my kind of moth

I discovered an old favourite of mine - well, 3 to be precise - the Buff-tip:

Now this might surprise some but I don't believe I have ever saw a Mayfly so I had to look this up - lovely looking creature and it wasn't until I looked at the shots that I noticed it seemed to be laying eggs? - or is that just another ridiculous observation :

I don't think I've ever seen the Dot moth in the trap before so that was a nice surprise:

Buff Ermine:

and a Green Silver-lines (my favourite colour ):

There were many, many more which included I believe Common Footman, Small Magpie, Brimstone, Rosy Footman, Riband Wave and this really pretty little micro moth which I can't identify unless it is Ancylis achatana:

[Wurzel]

Great set of micros and other moths Pauline Philzoid did mention that he'd bumped into you

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Beautiful moths, Pauline, particularly the Elephant Hawk Moth, which is always a welcome sight,

[Goldie M]

Great shots of the PHS Pauline and the Emperor's, I hope to meet up with both this Coming week-end Goldie

[Allan.W.]

Pauline those purple Hair shots (the two feeding ones ) are superb ! well captured ,the Purple Hairs that I,ve been watching
are still obsessed with the forming Acorns ,and early morning I,ve now seen them descending down onto the Bramble patches ,but even then the interest ,seems to be in the forming Blackberries ,anyway once again great shots !!
Regards Allan.W.

[bailey1409]

Hi Pauline

Your last image of the micro is a Rhyacionia pinicolana.

Last night until 11.30pm I had 38 species at the moth lamp. Mostly what you are getting but I am still awaiting a Dot moth.

Cheers

Maurice