David M wrote:This is a butterfly that particularly fascinates me and I hope I may get the chance to see one when I visit the Pyrenees in late June.
Other than hanging around nettle trees, what other habits does this species exhibit?
All the summer generation nettle tree butterflies I've seen, which is only a handful, have been puddling or taking minerals on tracks and roads. If the Swiss book is right, the June butterflies should also hang around nettle trees, as they stick in a little sneaky breeding, but the August generation is the dispersal/hibernation phase and so probably doesn't.
I've been in England for a week now, returning to Switzerland tomorrow, and have seen exactly three butterflies - two small whites on Good Friday and one (possibly two) orange tip in the garden today. It was sunny on Good Friday but cold here in East Suffolk and although I cycled to three of my favourite green hairstreak sites there was nothing on the wing at all - not so much as a brimstone, peacock or speckled wood. The two small whites were both urban.
This morning, this orange tip was bouncing around the flowers in my garden:
Inspired, I set off again to look for green hairstreaks (which, to be fair, are a late April butterfly at best in a normal year in this part of the world) but there was a strong and very chilly breeze so it was no surprise that nothing was flying.
Giving up on green hairstreaks I decided to look for purple hairstreak eggs. I soon found several - all hatched - on several trees.
Here's that third one again. Because of the algae growing over it it really wasn't very conspicuous:
The trees where I found them were just like those I search in Switzerland - rather young, with healthy branches reaching out into the sun. The eggs were all on branches with a south or south-easterly aspect. This one was largely in leaf (that is, the buds had burst and tight green furls were unrolling all over the tree):
This one had no green bursts at all:
All the eggs found on both were hatched, though. I found none unhatched or parasitised.
There is no hope of finding larvae at this time of year. They crawl out of the egg and immediately burrow into a bud. I did see evidence of this but obviously didn't open any buds. While I searched I saw plenty of other creatures, herbivorous and carnivorous, lurking around on the branches. This one, presumably a larva of some sort, looks a bit carnivorous, but I have no real grounds for that:
Nice to be back in Suffolk - but what a different environment!
Guy