Pauline

[Pauline]

Thank you David. I was told some years ago that every Dingy is a unique looking individual and when you eventually find some you will have the opportunity to test out that theory. It was good to see the wild WLH larva (thanks to Paul) and I agree that having reared a species before looking for the wild counterpart does make the task easier. Today I stumbled across what I believe to be a SWF larva which I have reared once before:

Today was really all about the Wood Whites tho' and despite the hailstones and heavy showers enough of these delightful little butterflies showed themselves in the intermittent brilliant sunshine to put on a good show. It was also good to bump into Andrew and John - I can't believe it is almost a year since we last met I shall start with a few 'pretty' shots and I should add that these shots were not in any way manipulated:

...and now on to the more interesting stuff. I still cannot work out what the 'courtship ritual' is all about. I am not sure it is about courtship at all but that makes it no less fascinating to watch. As I pointed out in 2017, the male does not just use his antennea but gives the female a good tongue lashing with his proboscis until she adopts a more submissive posture. I have seen it last from about 30 seconds to about 15 minutes. A few shots from the many taken:

When the male flew off the female resumed the egg-laying she had been engaged in before he accosted her:

[Wurzel]

Fantastic stuff Pauline really interesting to see this behaviour I can see why the antennae are used but ca't fathom why the tongue lashing happens - could the male be using his proboscis to douse the female in a pheromone? Still great to see, something else to look out for Sorry I can't help with the cat ID all the app says is 'green with a purplish head' - if only there was a book coming out around October time that had all the larval stages

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Lovely Wood White pictures, as always from you, Pauline! Don’t entirely understand the behaviour either, but it is a pleasure to watch. Hopefully we’ll get a chance later this month to witness it ourselves!

[David M]

Fabulous, Pauline. You've captured that courtship behaviour extremely well, and then played a Joker with the ovipositing and the freshly laid egg!

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel. It's interesting, isn't it? Would the male waste precious pheromones on a female that was clearly egg-laying? Maybe. I guess the first step is just more observation, in particular the behaviour/actions of both butterflies prior to and immediately after this particular ritual which may offer up some clues. There is so much we still don't know!

Thank you so much Mark - missed you at the social this year (first one I've been to in a while). Enjoy the Wood Whites and see if you can work out what is going on here.

Cheers David. If at all possible I'll be back for another visit once those eggs have had a chance to hatch

Aside from the Wood Whites there were plenty of other butterflies around yesterday including a very fresh Holly Blue and this GVW:

I was entertained by a couple of Brimstone and as they flew into a clump of vegetation I was convinced this would end in a pairing. Wrong again!! Having rejected the male, the female cleverly gave him the slip and disappeared over the hedge. He seemed unaware of this and to my amusement spent the next few minutes frantically flying in and around the clump of plants looking for her:

[kevling]

Pauline,

A fantastic and thought provoking sequence of Wood Whites. It's always nice to see something a little different.

Regards Kev

[Goldie M]

Hi! Pauline, you've brought back some good memories with those Wood White shots, Lovely photographs Pauline, Goldie

[Pauline]

Good to hear from you Kev. Thank you for your kind words. If I don't try to keep searching out something a bit different then it all becomes a bit stale and repetitive. I'd love to know what's going on with those Wood Whites tho'.

Pleased to hear that Goldie and thank you for your kind comment.

Last year I was visiting a friend and whilst there I watched Purple Hairstreaks egg-laying on her neighbour's Oaks. I resolved that this year I would have a great time monitoring them in the wild. Buggy was kind enough to show me my first wild PH last season but I was determined I would find my own. I have a colony in my own Oak trees but these trees are huge and not very accessible. You can imagine how disappointed I felt when my friend told me earlier in the year that at the end of the season her neighbour had chopped all of the lower branches from her Oaks. However, many of the branches had just been discarded and a quick search revealed about 20 eggs. I took them home and eventually tied them to fresh oak branches. Some haven't emerged but some have. Although kept all together some seem more advanced than others. I do hope they are in step with the wild larva which I shall try to locate soon:

[MrSp0ck]

Caterpillar is Silver Washed Frit.

It looks like they will be early this this year.

[millerd]

That SWF caterpillar is a magnificent beast, Pauline - I'd love to find one of those.

I missed you at Chiddingfold yesterday as I didn't get there till about four or so. It's quite a good time of day to see the Wood Whites, and there were still plenty around. That "courtship" display is a strange thing - a few years back I was observing a couple indulging, when a fellow enthusiast joined me and pointed out that both the butterflies were males... The whole thing needs investigating fully as you say.

Lovely shots too - they do make good subjects when sitting on flowers.

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

Good luck with those Hairstreaks, Pauline. Judging by their corpulence, they've got off to a positive start!

[trevor]

Lovely Wood White images, Pauline.
I was there on Friday, and it would seem that more had emerged for your visit.
I saw a maximum of eight and as it was early afternoon they were quite active,
apart from the mating pair!.
I was also lucky enough, like you, to see Brimstone courtship/rejection behaviour.

BB magic again!.
Trevor.

[bugboy]

Fantastic Wood White images, better than anything I've ever managed!

[Andrew555]

Great to see you again Pauline, time does indeed fly! Very well captured Wood White sequence, interesting stuff. Fingers crossed for your PH's.

[Pauline]

Thanks Martin. I didn't immediately recognise it (altho' it looked familiar) but I've reared these before as you'll probably remember and it eventually dawned on me what it was.

You probably missed the hailstones too Dave! Yes, I mentioned to Andrew that I too had seen 2 males engaged in this behaviour but it was several years ago and I can't remember if the proboscis was involved. I shall need to check my old photos and pay more attention in future.

Thank you David. The wild eggs I checked have hatched but I can find no sign of the larva yet.

Cheers Trevor and well done with the mating pair. It has been a few years since I saw that ..... and this should probably be in your diary but I think you captured the Brimstones way better than I did. Today I found my first (quite large) tick biting me which I imagine came from BB - possibly the only downside to that venue, apart from the traveling distance!

I appreciate that very generous comment Paul - even if I don't quite believe it

Thanks Andrew. I am looking forward to seeing your images of the Wood Whites. You were right - I had reared those larva before which is why it looked so familiar. I probably told you when we were looking at SSB's that for the last 3-4 years I have searched for their larva. Well, yet again I have failed miserably, despite looking in 2 completely different environments (at frequent intervals). However, whilst searching I have come across a number of interesting critters including this larva which I believe is the Garden Tiger Moth - tho' as usual I could be totally wrong. It was a very attractive creature but my word, I've never seen a caterpillar move so fast I honestly didn't know they could move like that:

A lot of the heather at the Broxhead site where there were a number of SSB's last year seems to be dying off - not sure why this is or whether it will impact on this year's brood as they seemed to favour this patch for egg-laying:

[Wurzel]

Not sure about the moth larvae myself Pauline - I made a right howler over a Scarlet Tiger larvae earlier in the year so I keep schtum now I used to live on Canford Heath and would often see what appeared to be dead Heather only for there to be fresh growth growing from the centre of the dead patch the following year - mind you you if it's like this over large parts of the site it could be a problem - possibly a 'controlled burn' would sort it out?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...whilst searching I have come across a number of interesting critters including this larva which I believe is the Garden Tiger Moth - tho' as usual I could be totally wrong. It was a very attractive creature but my word, I've never seen a caterpillar move so fast I honestly didn't know they could move like that..

Pretty sure it's garden tiger, Pauline. It certainly checks out:

https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/garden-tiger

[MrSp0ck]

Its a Garden Tiger caterpilllar, these are rare site these days, you wont have trouble with the foodplant, a friend used to use them in his compost bin, if its green they eat it, including cactus. Green material to frasspost in days. I found 3 in my garden a couple of years ago all got at by flies If its a female she will call in a male hopefully.

[Pauline]

Hi Guys - thanks for the confirmation. I'll never know the gender Martin as I just left it there but hopefully there will be others in the area. Now Wurzel, are you suggesting I become an amateur arsonist I'll keep an eye on this area and see what happens.

Now what were you saying David about me needing some better luck? Well, my car has failed its MOT - in quite a spectacular way I should add. It is now in the garage and I have a courtesy car which got me to a physio appointment as I have hurt my back . On my return I found that my frontage fence has been demolished by an oil delivery lorry - thankfully witnessed by the landscapers next door. A small section of the damage:

As a result I have only one of 'my' GVW to offer up today. I am sure things will improve and I shall get back to posting properly

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline, I am struggling to keep up with diaries lately with so much going on.

Just seen your great photo of the SWF caterpillar, lovely

And the PH cats, and the Wood Whites and particularly the Garden Tiger cat ,the good old Woolly Bear of my childhood. Sadly they are no longer common in the midlands and to see one here is quite notable.

Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck, hope it changes for the better soon.

Cheers,

Neil.