Pauline

[Wurzel]

Crickey Pauline the detail there is quite astounding

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Chris Jackson]

Interesting Duke of Burgundy cat shots Pauline.
All the more interesting for me as this species is nowhere near Marseilles.
The nice thing about the early stages is that they are relatively reliable and don't fly off all the time .
Chris

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel - I was really pleased with those shots. I have not been able to find any reference yet to the larva turning almost black prior to shedding its skin but I shall keep looking. Nothing about typical timescales either but have yet to look in my Frohawk.

Thank you Chris - interesting to me too and altho' they can't fly off you'd be surprised at how many ways they can disappear

A couple from today:

[Pauline]

Also seen today:

Bit worried about this little guy as no doubt his Mum will leave him somewhere and this is an area of the Common where folk let dogs run loose. Fingers crossed that he'll be OK. Only the second time ever that I have seen this. Very exciting!

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Pauline, those are really excellent shots of the Duke of Burgundy larval moult and I will be adding the sequence to the Species Album soon. I have never seen the a first instar moult of this species photographed before in such detail and it's not really described by Frohawk, so I've learnt something new. Also it's the first occasion that I know of where it has been documented that the larva eats its old skin after a moult. It would be really useful if you could continue to monitor this particular aspect in moults of subsequent instars.

Vince

[Pauline]

Thank you Vince. The following may be of interest. This larva (I shall call him No. 1) spent between 7.21am and 9.27am on 29/5 eating his skin before settling down into a groove. This was him yesterday:

You may recall that the 2 eggs hatched within about 60 mins of each other. Larva No 2 went through exactly the same process as Larva No 1 almost exactly 24 hours later - still took just in excess of 50 hours to reach the point of shedding, went through the same colour changes, however, he didn't eat his skin. He shed his skin at 9.38am on 30/5 and at 9.51am he was settled in a groove.

It is fascinating to watch the skin being shed. It splits from the back end and when the split reached half way up the body the larva threw his head and upper body back (as if to help the process) and then wriggled forward to shed it off. There was no further hesitation. He made his way to a place on the leaf but before he settled he did some strange gyrations. Interestingly, he has not moved off this leaf at all and you can still see the 2 empty eggs. The times below have been rounded to the nearest hour:

28/5 Midday

30/5 7.00am

30/5 10.00am

Just to show the context and the eggshells- you can see he totally ignores his shed skin (unlike No 1) and heads straight to a groove:

One of the several 'gyrations' before he settles:

Obviously I shall do my very best to monitor subsequent moults.

[Goldie M]

Well done Pauline, keep it up it's really interesting, Goldie

[Wurzel]

Those Silver-studs are perfectly posed Pauline, love the symmetry

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Fascinating insight into the early stages of this species, Pauline. I find it strange how the two larvae are behaving differently to one another. You'd expect both to eat the egg casing & skin or neither to do it.

Shows how much we still don't know.

[andy brown]

Lovely pics as always pauline and some good subject matter. Keep it up, i may take a photo of a butterfly this year

[Pauline]

Spiders!! I rest my case

Thank you M. - I'll do my very best

Cheers Wurzel - guess I shouldn't have posted 2 but I wasn't sure which was the best composition

Thank you David - me too. The one that ate his skin was the one who shed his skin 24 hours before the other (the eggs hatched almost together remember). I did wonder if he was more advanced in his development because he ate everything at every opportunity - including his skin. I do hope I manage to see further moults which may shed more light.

Cheers Andy - you're now in a perfect place for photography so you have absolutely no excuse!

I have been out and about locally quite a bit recently and each site I visit has 2 things in common - there are hardly any butterflies and everything is parched:

For the (my) record on 1 June I saw my first Meadow Brown and Large Skipper. I am also slightly reassured having seen Green Hairstreaks egg-laying on most visits:

A rather lovely moth which didn't seem to like all the attention from the ants:

[millerd]

I believe the moth, which I have always called the "Custard and Jam" moth, is in fact properly called a Clouded Buff. They are splendid creatures and I often see them on Denbies Hillside. That's a male - the females are marked slightly differently.

Nice Green Hairstreaks too!

Cheers,

Dave

[Goldie M]

Lovely Hair Streaks Pauline, I love the Green ones and the White, Purple, I'm sure I'D LOVE THE BROWN if I ever see them Goldie

[Wurzel]

Yep Dave's spot on with his ID Pauline - I normally see mine when looking for Silver Studs You did really well to get an unobstructed view Hopefully the bit of rain we've had today might make a bit of difference

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Chris L]

What an odd looking moth Pauline. I have never seen one of those before.

Stumbling across the deer must have been a real joy. How close were you and were they aware of your presumably distant presence?

The Silver Studded Blue photo is absolutely perfect.

[David M]

That is indeed a very striking little moth, Pauline. Not sure I've ever seen one of those.

Good that you found a few ovipositing Green Hairstreaks. They haven't been around in their usual numbers on my patch, although to be fair the last two years had seen far more than normal.

Not often I'm glad to see rain, but yesterday was a Godsend. I hope your area got some too - it will help to inject a little green back into the landscape, something we've all been missing.

[Pauline]

That's a great name Dave - reckon that's what they'll be known as from now on Why can't folk be a bit more imaginative when naming these critters?

You did make me laugh Goldie. I'm also sure that you will love the Brown Hairstreak (tho' Susie's name of Flame Hairstreak is more appropriate). I'm also sure you will see them before too long.

We haven't had much rain Wurzel - a few very light showers but not enough to count. Haslemere (7 miles away) has had no water since Sunday!!!!!! Hope the tankers are now managing to keep up with demand.

Thank you Otep for your kind words. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was at seeing that Deer. I was a fair distance away with no intention of moving closer. She was fully aware of me but as you can see she didn't seem to see me as a threat whilst keeping a careful watch in all directions. Highlight of my year

I can't recall ever seeing one either David but I don't think they are particularly rare. Sadly, the couple of very light showers here lasting very few minutes are not making a great deal of difference

Just a couple of shots. I tried to capture that lovely oily effect that Dave referred to re SSB but only half succeeded The other is a skin of some sort. I am assuming it is snake as opposed to Slow Worm? If snake, is it possible to tell which one?

[Wurzel]

Lovely oily Silver Stud Pauline I'll take a guess at Grass Snake - as the 'head end' looks much darker than the rest which would fit

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Nice Clouded Buff Pauline I too like the name that Dave has for them

I can't recall ever seeing one either David but I don't think they are particularly rare.

They seem to be fairly common on some sites down south but otherwise they are a moth of heaths and moorland and have a very patchy distribution in the UK. As far as I am aware they do not occur in Warwickshire although I have seen them in Cumbria and Scotland.

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

..Just a couple of shots. I tried to capture that lovely oily effect that Dave referred to re SSB but only half succeeded..

When they catch the light right (as you managed to capture) they have a 'brassy' appearance, like some of the erebia one finds on the continent.

Always a pleasure to see.