Pauline

[bugboy]

Whilst taking shots of Chalkhill Blues I noticed a female behaving strangely. I am not sure if she was newly emerged but she was doing some strange things with her abdomen on a bramble leaf. I doubt whether anyone can shed any light on it but I shall post the images in the order I took them - it went on for several minutes''...

I've seen other butterflies do this, always very fresh ones. It occurs to me that they may be expelling meconium from their abdomen after just emerging from the pupa?

What do you reckon?

Cheers,

Dave

Or they could be stretching those very important muscles, making sure everything's in full working order. Or perhaps dislodging detritus that's got stuck there?

[Wurzel]

I was wondering about this Pauline and ended up down a wormhole finding out about sphragis (mating plugs) but as the article I was reading referred to 'many species' but not actual Blues then I'd probably go with Dave's idea. A real close up shows there to be a 'gunk' around the end of the abdomen I'm sure I read something about them using the tips of their abdomen to 'check out' a plant before laying? interesting...also good to see this one has 'silver studs'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Hi Dave - I have not seen this before but expelling meconium had occurred to me as she was certainly very fresh. However, in butterflies I have reared they have always done this before their first flight and I had seen her fly (somewhat tentatively) to this location. I checked the leaf she was on and there was no sign of any meconium.

Hi Wurzel - David sent me an article on that subject some time ago but given what I subsequently witnessed I don't think she had been mated.

Hi Buggy - that just leaves your hypothesis. I guess without further 'evidence' from someone who has studied them in detail we cannot know for sure. Incidentally, have you seen it in other species or just CB?

[David M]

Nice to see those Silver Spotted Skippers and Chalkhills, Pauline.

I too believe the meconium theory is the safest option. Other than ova, I'm struggling to see what else they could expel.

[Katrina]

Glad you saw a HBHM egg!

[Pauline]

Thank you David - I was very pleased to see the SSS. The weather here (persistent rain and a strong breeze ) has scuppered any further outings.

You remembered Katrina!! Tell you what - you'd never find one unless you saw them being laid as they are just so well camouflaged. I read that a female lays about 200 eggs.

A few odds and sods from recent days. Another reason I don't like spiders:

That poor Brimstone pupa as it looked yesterday. I may just put it in a container to see what comes out of it:

and one that was clearly more successful:

Lastly, a somewhat worn but still very attractive female DGF - sadly not in the pose I have been waiting for:

[Charaxes]

Hi Pauline,

Super to see a good collection of butterflies in your garden. It's the same here and the field below my house is absolutely full of peacocks. There must be a thousand or two and they are mainly nectaring on teasels. So good to see butterflies in numbers this season, but just hope the weather picks up soon!

I took a walk down on the ranges yesterday and saw a lone grayling flying along the track. I didn't explore more of the area but suspect their will be a few there on a sunny day.

Regards, Scott

[Pauline]

If anyone else had told me they had c2k Peacocks in a field next to their house I would have been very sceptical Scott, but after the info provided last year, what can I say except I'll be there in 5 mins!!!!!!! Thanks for the tip on the Grayling. If this weather ever improves I'll give it a go

[Pauline]

Without going into too much detail my life is a bit bonkers at the moment and getting out just seems to be getting harder and harder. However, I managed to pop down to Oxenbourne a bit earlier and found it teeming with butterflies, but surprisingly (and disappointingly) I was not able to find any SSS. There were mating pairs of Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Chalkhill blue but the Peacocks seem to have replaced the Red Admirals in terms of numbers. Since my last visit (in pretty chilly conditions) the Small Skippers seem to have all but disappeared. Mind you, the weather today wasn't great - warm, for sure, but pretty humid with the threat of rain and thunder which did indeed come as I was leaving. A few shots from earlier:

I just had to take a shot of this Gatekeeper as it landed on my jeans twice but not in a position where I could reach with the camera:

[Charaxes]

Hi Pauline,

Good luck with finding the grayling. Hopefully the weather does improve soon. It's also playing havoc with my work!
Although today where I was working a few Holly blues, small coppers and purple hairstreaks were about to keep me company.

I think all the peacocks would have come from all the larvae I spotted the month before on the other side of the field. I think they must have just made it before their nettles were destroyed, and then had a good hatch. The problem with said field is the most of it is chest hight thistle so it's almost impossible to explore! Fantastic sight though and the whole place was buzzing with various pollinators.

Interestingly I've also found some more fields like the one you mention from last season. A much larger area this time so if the sun comes out again I might check them out properly. Seems access is limited but I haven't had a close look yet. Looks like a promising area though..

All the best, Scott

[essexbuzzard]

Take heart, Pauline! Although Silver Spotted Skippers have emerged in late July in some recent years, they are really August butterflies. The chilly, wet weather of July just might cause them to appear at their traditional time!

[Pauline]

Hi Scott

that is really interesting. I haven't had the chance to check out the original field yet but if/when I do I shall certainly email you with results. It just shows that you don't always have to venture far from home to make great discoveries.

Hi Mark - this is just such a tiny colony of SSS and has been for years; sometimes not even into double figures. I saw a couple of males and photographed them on 25 July but was hoping to see a female. Because it is so close I shall try to check again when the sun returns.

Now on to the Large Skipper egg - the only one that didn't get predated overnight and which is now in a cage. I really don't know what I am doing here so if anyone spots anything amiss please don't hesitate to shout. I had been checking the egg regularly and there was no sign of change until late Monday morning when it really looked like it was going to hatch. I spent a lot of time watching it and by Tuesday morning it still looked like it was going to hatch:

I had a physio appointment first thing but I really wanted to see it emerge so I re-scheduled the appointment for Thursday. Tuesday was bright and sunny here so I was hopeful I would see some action. Absolutely nothing had happened by Tuesday evening so I had to resign myself to the fact that it had possibly died as I have not reared a species where the egg has taken so long to hatch when it appeared so close to doing so.

Wednesday was a really wet and windy day here and there was still no change in the egg. The leaf it was on had shrivelled and gone brown and I was about to dispose of it but I decided to wait until the rain eased. Thursday morning was better weather-wise and there was still no change in the egg but I had to rush off to my physio appointment. On my return I decided to dispose of the egg but lo and behold I had a tiny larva waiting for me!!!!!!!!!! I took some shots quickly before it wrapped itself up in the dying leaf but since yesterday I have seen no sign of it or any feeding damage:

As mentioned, it now appears to have sealed itself up. I have provided some fresh bits of the plant on which the egg was laid. I have also provided some grass which may, or may not be, Cocks-foot I seem to remember reading it should go thru a couple or more instars before hibernating (tho I feel like doing that myself in this weather!!!) so any advice/thought from the experts would be welcome. I'd love to suceed with this one.

[David M]

Conditions have been pretty vile for a while in the UK, Pauline, so you did well to get out and see a few interesting things.

Good luck with the Large Skipper larva.

[Pauline]

Thank you David - just vhave to see how it goes.

A few shots from today. 2 M, 1F SSS seen in 40 mins along with many other species:

[Pauline]

Great to see these today. Very fresh. Feels like the end of the season:

[Wurzel]

Lovely Brostreak Pauline "Feels like the end of the season" still a bit to go yet , they've only just started emerging over at Shipton so a few more weeks and hopefully there will be a few Cloudies knocking about in early September - fingers crossed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Great to see these today. Very fresh...

Sure is, Pauline. Lovely, deep, vivid colours.

[Pauline]

I was delighted to get to see these David within the first 10 mins of my arrival. After she flew into the trees I still had 15 mins left but could find no more in the close vicinity.

Cheers Wurzel - trouble is, there's just too much 'stuff' going on here to get out much this season. I did manage a short break today and decided to head back to Oxenbourne as it is one of the closest sites to me (12 mins on a good day). As I drove down the A3 my heart sank as I saw the length of the queues and realised this is the weekend of the South Downs show which is incredibly popular and held at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park - right next door to Oxenbourne. Traffic southbound was fine but the queue Northbound left me wondering how and if I was going to get back in 30 mins time. To let the traffic ease a little I stretched the visit to an hour and in that time I was able to find 6-7 male SSS and 2 egg-laying females which I was very pleased about. Given the strength of the wind today along with the speed that these little butterflies are capable of, getting some shots was a little tricky.

Thankfully the return journey wasn't as bad as anticipated so it seemed it was a good decision to hang on a bit longer rather that be sitting in a jam.

[David M]

That's an attractive butterfly, Pauline, but with perhaps an even more attractive ovum - looks like something you'd see in a pâtisserie.

[millerd]

Nice shots of a very photogenic species, Pauline - it always amazes me just how large SSS eggs are relative to the small size of the butterfly, and how picky they are about the bit of fescue that they lay on. You can find a whole selection on one choice spot, and none anywhere nearby.

I haven't seen many anywhere yet this year - just two or three at each of the sites I visit on the Chilterns and North Downs.

Cheers,

Dave