Black cotton netting, the fine kind used in better quality butterfly nets. I used black to better see the BH ova ~ their white colour a contrast. The butterflies would probably do just as well with white curtain nylon netting ~ the kind my wife used to use in our windows for privacy.Susie wrote:
Nice sighting, I would love to see a peacock (or any butterfly!) at the moment.
CC: What kind of netting did you use to enclose your brown hairstreaks and blackthorn?
The arrangement I use is quite simple but very effective. I bought those very durable large black builders type heavy duty plastic buckets and carefully remove the handles. Twenty five years ago at least now, I bought 20 @ £1 each. I'm still using some for other purposes now ~ they are that durable which you need. Removing the handles leaves a large flower pot. I drill six pairs of small holes around the top of the bucket rim at 60 degree intervals. Using fencing wire ( about 2mm diameter ~ similar to the wire hangers used by dry cleaners ~ I form large loops and insert the ends into the holes, bending sufficient over into the paired hole closeby which anchors the wire loops securely. Where the three loops meet at the top I tie with string to give extra rigidity ~ they will spend all four seasons outside remember. The whole would ideally be about 3-4 feet tall ~ sometimes larger. I use this arrangement for a range of foodplants ~ Devil bit Scabious for Marsh Frits, Blackthorn for the Hairstreaks, Honeysuckle trained to grow around the large loops for the White Admirals, and all the Violet feeding Fritillaries will pair and lay too in this arrangement. I put say three pairs of pupae in the Breeding cage and leave them to it. You must check the cages frequently for pests (earwigs, spiders, wasps,parasitic flies, birds attention and other pests) because they are always about.
Growing foodplant is essential and I establish the pots and growing plants maybe a year or so prior to breeding programmes. The first time I enclosed a couple of female White Admirals ( they need a balance of both sunshine and shade to thrive and lay ) they laid hundreds of ova some on the Honeysuckle leaves but, annoyingly, tucking many ova in the fine holes of the black netting close by. I had to cut up that netting to gather the ova and pin the little pieces of net to healthy Honeysuckle leaves. The little larvae soon form a silk extension at the tip of the Honeysuckle leaves on which they rest, moving elsewhere on the plant to feed. When still quite small, they prepare a leaf for their hibernaculum in a very interesting way. They eat away a curve in their chosen leaf near the stalk and use silk under tension to pull the prepared leaf parts together to form a short small diameter tube in which the little larva spends the winter. I have also bred two of the White Admiral's close European Relatives; Limenitis Populi ( Poplar admiral ~ on growing Aspen ) and Neptis rivularis ( Hungarian Glider ?? IIRC) ~ the latter species I have found in the wild only as ova and pre-hibernation larvae ~ never seen the actual butterfly in the wild, only in my cages. Their larvae feed on Wild growing Spirea and Astilbe ~ the butterfly's scientific name is a good one.... rivularis .... I have found rivularis ova on Astilbe growing in the middle of a shallow river! These two species also prepare hibernacula from foodplant leaves in a similar way to the British species. Fascinating to watch the process.
Back in the 1970s, JH here then lived a few miles away and visited me a few times. he saw the arrangement enclosing Marsh Fritillaries one one visit ~ a pair were in cop that day ~ they stayed locked together for over 24 hours ...
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Hope the above helps ~ good luck.