Hampshire and Isle of Wight BC - New Members' Day
A fantastic day welcoming 42 new members to the branch, in a now-regular fixture in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight BC events calendar! The morning was spent in presentations - myself providing an overview of the butterflies found in the 2 counties, followed by Robin Turner discussing the website, Dave Green discussing the importance of recording, Tim Norris discussing the moths found in the 2 counties, and wrapping up with Lynn Fomison discussing the importance of gardens for butterflies and moths, as well as our 3 reserves.
Dave's presentation highlighted the incredible number of records provided for the 2 counties: 1,950,156 records of butterflies and moths (507,694 butterfly records) (1,442,462 moth records). Just amazing! Of course, Dave also explained how these records are used to positive effect. We all then headed off to Magdalen Hill Down for lunch and a tour of the reserve. Despite the wind, we managed to notch up a good tally of species, including:
Brimstone (+ larva), Orange-tip (larva), Green Hairstreak, Brown Argus, Small Blue (+ egg), Common Blue, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Peacock, Painted Lady, Small Heath, Large Skipper, Large White, Grizzled Skipper (+ egg). We also saw a Drinker moth larva, a Coleophora case, Adela croesella, Burnet Companion, a Small Elephant Hawkmoth, Six-spot Burnet (+ larvae and pupae), Cinnabar and Celypha lacunana. Some photos below.
Cheers,
- Pete
![IMG_1900.jpg (251.29 KiB) Viewed 2018 times Small Blue](./files/thumb_3_565bfdb8e6c8e982dffecafb2f7e36b6)
- Small Blue
![IMG_1877.jpg (234.51 KiB) Viewed 2018 times Orange-tip Larva following a skin change - with the old skin still intact](./files/thumb_3_5ecca0c26986a8b4504b657b6ca1a01b)
- Orange-tip Larva following a skin change - with the old skin still intact
![IMG_1940.jpg (362.68 KiB) Viewed 2018 times Grizzled Skipper egg](./files/thumb_3_76e8c649603e1e137e614e7d9acfd61e)
- Grizzled Skipper egg
![IMG_1869.jpg (594.82 KiB) Viewed 2018 times Small Elephant Hawk-moth](./files/thumb_3_c8d563d8acb07bfc9356125d002a0b9a)
- Small Elephant Hawk-moth
![IMG_1897.jpg (590.67 KiB) Viewed 2018 times Drinker moth larva](./files/thumb_3_3175829044c437ffde7e2c91770289ad)
- Drinker moth larva