Pauline

[Neil Freeman]

Thank you Neil - it is almost a relief to know there are some moths you haven't seen as the variety you get in your moth trap is impressive and much more diverse than anything I seem to get. Inspired by your latest set of moths my trap will be dusted off this weekend for sure!

Oh, there are plenty I have never seen Pauline including some I am never likely too unless I make special pilgrimages to far flung parts of the UK. I also seem to remember you having a fair few in your trap that I don't get around my neck of the woods.

That open wing shot of the female Brown Argus is beautiful, definitely one I wish I had taken

Cheers,

Neil.

[Maximus]

Lovely shots of the Glanvilles, pauline and the mating Brown Argus

Mike.

[Pauline]

Cheers Mike - whenever I am up there with the Glanvilles it reminds me of the helicopter - an experience we sort of shared, but I shall say no more

Hi Neil - that's very generous of you to say so. I took this one today but have no idea what it is. You know my views on micros and this was mini micro. I shall look it up eventually unless someone can enlighten me:

Thank you Dave - worth a visit if you don't have to travel far for sure.

That's a co-incidence David. I took my first shots of Glanvilles at Wrecclesham 8 years ago on 18 May 2011. I was there quite a bit that year so we may even have been there on the same day!

Cheers Wurzel - now re Wood Whites, here's a question for you. Who would go looking for Wood White Butterflies late on an overcast, thundery, showery day?? No, not even me. I have seen WW flying late on warm summer evenings but my business today was to check up on those eggs and see if I could spot any larva. I didn't even imagine I would see any butterflies as I was once told that they roosted in the trees - not so. For those who know the area from the BB car park I had seen about 20 flying half-heartedly and/or attempting to roost and that was before I even got to the 'hot spot'. I had just crossed the little bridge and was in the same ditch where I met Dave when I heard voices. There had been no other cars in the car park when I arrived. To cut a long story short, a guy appeared on the bend and once he saw me he started to call to the boy who was with him, quite urgently although I couldn't hear what he said.

Now I know we have had this debate before and I am sure nets can be quite innocent but as they approached me the conversation went something like this:

ME to the boy (non challenging) - 'that's a very large net for such a small butterfly?'

ADULT 'Oh, he only uses it with the moth trap - y'know, some don't actually go into the trap so he catches them as they fly around to identify them then let's them go'

ME 'You don't sound like you are from around here'
ADULT 'I'm from Scarborough but I've been here 20 years. A friend was telling me about the WW here so we thought we'd come to look at it'
ME 'Have you come far then?'
ADULT 'Only from the Camberley area'
ME 'I didn't expect to see any WW in weather like this at this time of the day'
ADULT ' Yes, we've been lucky with just a shower'

As they left they made a big show of actually counting all the WW they could see. I hope someone on here can reassure me. After all, most if not all the eggs must have been laid now but he seemed to have a lot of stuff with him (back pack, case hanging from his wrist, no camera that I could see). He hadn't explained the use of the net. Why would someone be out looking for WW at a time and in weather conditions when there was unlikely to be anyone else there? I left about 4.40pm but he still had not returned. On my way out I took a shot of the only other car in the car park. I had also taken a quick shot of them with the net.

So my point is Wurzel, if this is in any way dodgy, best get there whilst there's still some left to see!!! I'm including the shots just in case Tuts or anyone else may recognise this individual. Wouldn't it be great if he was reading this and told me I had it all wrong:

[meiga]

Hi Pauline

Your micro moth could be Glyphipterix fosterella. Such a big name for such a small moth.

Maurice

[trevor]

Makes you wonder, Pauline. I can honestly say, in all the sites I've visited over the years,
I have never seen anyone with a net ( in the UK ). So thankfully netting seems to be largely
a thing of the past.

Trevor.

[Pauline]

I reckon you're spot on with that Maurice - thank you. Another reason I'm not keen on micros - I can neither see them nor pronounce them! Why the name change Maurice?

I didn't see any larva yesterday but I re-found a couple of the eggs I watched being laid so perhaps I'm just a bit early:

So what did I learn yesterday? Well, I discovered that at Chiddingfold at least, WW do not roost in trees. Like the Blues they have a penchant for communal roosting with groups of 4-6 quite common and they quite favour Dandelion Clocks on which to do this:

Now as regards their little 'ritual', are these 2 both the same gender (2 males?) as they were both using their proboscis, taking it in turns:

and neither was adopting a submissive posture which is usually the norn as below:

[millerd]

My experience with Wood Whites matches yours, Pauline - they roost in little groups by the side of the paths, low down in the foliage. I've watched them late in the day unerringly seeking out their fellows after a last quick slurp of nectar and settling down companionably.

I'd forgotten about the ditch meeting, Pauline!

As for the net... That chap seems to have been unable to give a credible explanation - that bit about moth traps sounds garbage to me. The most likely explanation would probably be the correct one, unfortunately. I've encountered people with nets a few times: one unspeakable individual taking Long-tailed Blues at Kingsdown in 2013, a suspicious chap up at Fen Bog last year eyeing up the Large Heaths, and a couple of others who were undertaking genuine surveys as part of their university courses and had documentation to back this up. Oh, and the two chaps conducting a broader entomological survey on my local patch a couple of years ago linked to the Heathrow expansion. Legitimate users always seem to be able to prove this. Hmmm...

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Lovely Wood White sequence, Pauline. I was a bit early this year and only saw about eight.
It won't be long before we are at the same location looking for something larger and more purple!.

Trevor.

[Maximus]

Lovely Wood White sequence, Pauline. Our experience of their roosting behavour is as everyone else, they roost communally low down next to the paths.
We've encountered people with nets on a few occasions, and none when challenged gave a convincing answer. We found a bloke with a net at the Straits, said he was surveying Skippers, no note book etc. just a net. He cleared off straight away after being challenged! Hope that chap doesn't return to Chiddingfold when PE are about, they'd be like sitting ducks, worrying

Mike.

[Wurzel]

A great sequence of shots Pauline, loving the Dandelion clock shots
As for the netters...their story sounds like a load of rollocks to me If he used the net for around the moth trap then why would he need to take it out where there was no moth trap? Oh well hopefully the adults have don their thing and there will be a fine second generation that I might be able to get over for, fingers crossed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Lovely sequence, Pauline. You seem to have good numbers there, now. I’m pleased about that, for previous reports from there seemed to suggest numbers of WW were on the low side .

[Goldie M]

Beautiful butterflies Pauline especially the ones on the Clocks, wish I was there
I've seen them at Gait Barrows with nets, different individuals, usually young, I just hope that's not why the Dukes are disappearing, still only a few seen this year. Goldie

[meiga]

Hi Pauline

It helps getting an i.d. when the images are as good as that one, showing its markings/features. It looks like it is freshly emerged, Yes they are small.
I took a stab at it being closely related to one of the Cocksfoot Moths.

Can't say anything about name changes, I don't follow micros too closely.

Cheers

Maurice

[Pauline]

Thanks Trevor. Probably the reason you don't see any guys with nets is the ridiculously early times you are out there - they're probably all still in bed! Looking forward to seeing you soon.

I reckon you're right Dave. I, too, have seen several in the past and one was collecting female PE - and being quite open about it Another was collecting Glanvilles (years ago) to take them into schools for educational purposes! I could go on ........ but possibly even worse is the fact that youngster will probably grow up thinking it's OK to do that!

Trouble is Mike, what can you do? I don't know how Neil managed to secure that prosecution for the Large Blues but good on him - I think they searched the guy's property to get a conviction? All I managed was the car number plate!

Cheers Wurzel - that was exactly what I was thinking!

Thank you Mark. I didn't go far at all so yes, I'd say numbers are pretty good. I fully intend to return (yet again) so I'll let you know if there are any left

Thank you Goldie. Perhaps the Clocks were soft on their feet, y'know, like a cosy pair of slippers on a cold night They definitely favoured them out of everything available.

Now, back to the little larva - the one I had a little panic over Well, he's doing fine. In fact I thought I had a second one until I looked more closely and saw it was his skin that he'd shed so I guess he is now 2nd instar:

[Pauline]

The night I was concerned about this little Sycamore, for the first time ever I inadvertently left the door open on the mesh cage outside which holds the immature stages. Would you believe it, that was the night both my Sallow Kitten and Puss moth chose to emerge. When I discovered it the next morning the Sallow Kitten was long gone but I managed a few shots of the Puss moth and the pupa from which they emerged (which I also posted last year):

[millerd]

I popped into Chiddingfold today, Pauline, and saw at least thirty Wood Whites between the bridge and the top of the hill, including that clearing on the left. Much egg-laying was going on. I'd guess that between there and the Oaken Wood entrance there would have been many more, though perhaps not as many as Bugboy and I counted last August in the second brood (a conservative 120 or so...). The population seems fine to me!

Cheers,

Dave

[MrSp0ck]

The Sallow Kitten was probably a male, as it would have called in a male [if one was around] if it were a female and you would have found a pair or the female alone, the next morning.

[David M]

Wow! That's an enchanting Wood White sequence, Pauline. It's almost like fairies frolicking about in some childrens' story.

Good to hear numbers are encouraging, though not so good that people are around with nets.

[Pauline]

That's good to know Dave. Hope you manage to find the Glanvilles (see latest pm).

I never thought of that Martin. Just my luck to get a male that couldn't wait to get away!

Thank you David. I hope you are having a lovely time wherever you are. I had a very nice time yesterday looking at Common Blues close to home. I rarely put shots of these in my diary simply because I have never been able to do them justice with the photos I take. My images seem lacklustre when compared to that vibrancy and depth of colour that is so attractive especially in fresh individuals - and there was plenty of them about. Not so many years ago all of the females that I saw were of the 'normal' variety but various shades of Blue now seem to dominate. I have been looking at the many Common Blue Abs on a well-known web-site but I am not sure if these butterflies fall into any of those categories. What I am sure of is that it was a delight to see them and that all 6 females I saw were Blue:

[millerd]

Lovely blue female shots, Pauline. There is such variation in this butterfly between extremes that I would hesitate to call any aberrations as such, or attempt to match them to any particular named variety - almost every single one is subtly different. They are all beautiful, especially when fresh like this.

Cheers,

Dave