April 2011

[Rogerdodge]

Went to Marsland in N. Deon/N. Cornwall.
P-b Fs out ready.
Saw 20+ in four different areas.
Superb day witlh 13 species. No GH though Nick!

[Susie]

I saw small torts, peacock, comma, holly blue, lots of brimstone and orange tips and a speckled wood and four green hairstreaks today.

[millerd]

Down at Denbies today the Green Hairstreaks were out - this seems to have been the day they've chosen all over! There were also a couple of Grizzled Skippers along with a variety of what you might expect: Orange Tips, Brimstones (several females laying on Dogwood), Holly Blues, Peacocks and Speckled Woods. I also encountered this pair of Green-veined Whites.

On getting back home, I found that every ivy-clad tree had sprouted Holly Blues. There were two or three per tree, everywhere you looked. Amazing.

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

Dave said:

Brimstones (several females laying on Dogwood)

I don't doubt your observations but I have never heard of dogwood as a foodplant for Brimstones. That seems to be a major observation.

Jack

[Trev Sawyer]

Hi Jack,
Apparently, Buckthorn and Dogwood leaves are very similar in appearance (both have that strange layout of veins on the leaf surface - which curve up towards the tip rather than running straight out to the edge). Pull a leaf apart on a dogwood and there will be white latex-like strings inside - with buckthorn there isn't.

Trev

[David M]

What is the best shrub to look for Holly Blues at this time of year?

[NickB]

What is the best shrub to look for Holly Blues at this time of year?

Well, the females will be laying on the developing flowers and buds of Holly Bushes -or an alternative also used (thanks to Felix) is Laurel.
I have seen HB laying on leguminous plants like Hare's Foot Clover in the middle of a meadow next to a wood as well....
N
Edit: Those emerging now will be first seen around ivy, the main larval food plant for the second brood...

[Matsukaze]

I didn't go to any real butterfly hot-spots today but looked more locally in the countryside between Frome and Radstock. Butterflies were very patchy - some areas with good numbers of Orange-tip, Brimstone, Peacock and Green-veined White, but in other, apparently similar areas very few were to be found.

Might go onto the Wiltshire downs tomorrow and see what is out and about there. Are Marsh Fritillary larvae still likely to be about?

[Vince Massimo]

Down at Denbies today ... Brimstones (several females laying on Dogwood), Holly Blues, Peacocks and Speckled Woods.
Dave

I don't doubt your observations but I have never heard of dogwood as a foodplant for Brimstones. That seems to be a major observation.
Jack

If I had read this last week I would have thought you meant Holly Blues laying on Dogwood (which is what they do), but I watched a Brimstone laying two eggs on Dogwood at one of my local woodland sites on 7th April.

Brimstone Ovum 7-April-2011

I will be monitoring the development of the eggs over the next few weeks and will report further.

(EDIT: see posting dated 10th April for corrections and update)

Vince

[millerd]

Dave said:

Brimstones (several females laying on Dogwood)

I don't doubt your observations but I have never heard of dogwood as a foodplant for Brimstones. That seems to be a major observation.

Jack

Ah, yes, but I do doubt them, now you mention it. I may well have been mistaken - the plants had red stems, which I've always associated with dogwood. Here is a picture - not very clear and to be honest having enlarged it a bit, there is more than one plant there. No wonder I couldn't actually find any eggs...

Jack - Do you remember we saw a Holly Blue apparently laying on Dogwood at Denbies last year?

Dave

[millerd]

Having seen Vince's post, I may have seen things right after all. I'll have to go down to Denbies again and look properly for eggs and (later on) caterpillars.

Dave

[Pete Eeles]

If I had read this last week I would have thought you meant Holly Blues laying on Dogwood (which is what they do), but I watched a Brimstone laying two eggs on Dogwood at one of my local woodland sites on 7th April. I posted this information on the Species Forum with a photo. Here it is again, but it is now also in the appropriate Species Album with explanatory notes.

I will be monitoring the development of the eggs over the next few weeks and will report further.

Vince

Nice one, Vince! The ovum also appears to have been laid on bark, rather than a leaf which, I believe, is somewhat unusual in itself!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Jack Harrison]

Dave aske:

Jack - Do you remember we saw a Holly Blue apparently laying on Dogwood at Denbies last year?

Indeed I do but Holly Blues will lay on almost anything that has the right "shaped" buds, eg Cotoneaster.

Jack

[NickB]

Dave aske:

Jack - Do you remember we saw a Holly Blue apparently laying on Dogwood at Denbies last year?

Indeed I do but Holly Blues will lay on almost anything that has the right "shaped" buds, eg Cotoneaster.
Jack

Holly Blue, it seems, lay on far more things than the literature seems to indicate....
N

[David M]

Dave aske:

Jack - Do you remember we saw a Holly Blue apparently laying on Dogwood at Denbies last year?

Indeed I do but Holly Blues will lay on almost anything that has the right "shaped" buds, eg Cotoneaster.
Jack

Holly Blue, it seems, lay on far more things than the literature seems to indicate....
N

Yes. Where I saw the Holly Blue today was in an stretch of sheltered riverbed where no Holly was growing. There was copious Ivy and a few Laurel bushes. I tapped the branches of a few of them but didn't dislodge the butterfly I'd seen earlier.

[Susie]

I've watched and have photos of holly blue egg laying on dogwood at Denbies too.

[Vince Massimo]

... the plants had red stems, which I've always associated with dogwood. Here is a picture - not very clear and to be honest having enlarged it a bit, there is more than one plant there. No wonder I couldn't actually find any eggs...

Dave, I agree that the red-stemmed plant is Common Dogwood, but I am not sure what the pale-stemmed plant is, because the leaves look different.

Nice one, Vince! The ovum also appears to have been laid on bark, rather than a leaf which, I believe, is somewhat unusual in itself!

Thanks Pete, I am very interested to follow this up. In the meantime here is another picture of the egg in relation to the bark and the bud.

Brimstone Ovum 7-April-2011

Vince

[Susie]

[Neil Freeman]

I have seen loads of Holly Blues during the past couple of days but so far I have not seen one land on anything....

Managed to get a couple of photos of the Speckled Woods in my back Garden this afternoon.

Also went for a liitle walk around a nature reserve at the back of one of the local parks and saw 5 peacocks, a couple of Small Tortoishells and my first Comma of the year.
Not big numbers compared to some sighting by others I know, but due to personal circumstances havn't had much chance to get out so for me this was a good day.

Neil.

[NickB]

Went to Marsland in N. Deon/N. Cornwall.
P-b Fs out ready.
Saw 20+ in four different areas.
Superb day witlh 13 species. No GH though Nick!

Swap you a PbF for a GH