MikeOxon

[MikeOxon]

Thank you, Goldie - I'm pleased you enjoyed the photos. Alas, PBF has disappeared from so many sites, although it seems to be holding on better in Scotland. On the other hand, its 'Small' cousin seems to be faring better, all up the West coast.

Mike

[Wurzel]

Intersting Marshie aberrant Mike Pauline was right about the stained glass Pearls - love that shot and a definite in the "I wish I'd taken that" category

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

One of the most attractive Marsh Fritillary aberrations I've ever seen, Mike.

Great find.

[William]

Great stuff Mike, that Marsh Fritillary and Lesser Butterfly Orchid combination is wonderful - two of my favourite things in one photo!

BWs,

William

[MikeOxon]

Many thanks for the comments and I'm pleased to share the results of a very enjoyable day's butterflying

I didn't mention that my son spotted a mason bee (Osmia bicolor), which you can read about at http://www.wired.com/2014/04/adorable-b ... il-shells/

We watched her for some time, collecting dried grasses to 'thatch' over her snail-shell nest. My son has posted a short video online at https://youtu.be/E82cedVap4o

Mike

[MikeOxon]

For various reasons, I have not been able to get out into the field much recently but I have been enjoying reading other people's posts. in particular, I joined in a discussion about Small Blue aberrations, in Pauline's PD, not that I have any specialist knowledge in the field.

What seems remarkable to me is the constancy of the complex patterns on the wings of most butterfly species. As is so often the case, we learn a little about the mechanisms that control these patterns when things go wrong. So, spots can turn into lines, if the regulating genes fail to 'turn off' at the correct time during the growth of the wing.

Common Blue aberration
Lough Down Streatley - Sept.1998

Nevertheless, it seems extraordinary to me that evolutionary selection pressures have resulted in the precisely repeated patterns on, say, the wings of the Small Tortoiseshell

I have often noticed the word (Tutt) appearing after many named aberrations, so decided to find out a little about him. James William Tutt (1858–1911) was Headmaster of various schools in East London and a Fellow of the Entomological Society. He appears to have been a 'difficult' character, since he often 'fell out' with his fellow entomologists. Like many schoolmasters, it seems that he was better at dispensing information than in listening to the opinions of others. He had a prodigious memory and poured his knowledge into the multiple volumes of his 'Natural History of the British Lepidoptera' (along with many other books).

Along with a great many 'out-of-copyright' books, these volumes can be downloaded, in various formats, from 'The Internet Archive' https://archive.org/ When using this invaluable resource, I select 'advanced search' and then type in whatever information I have, in the appropriate boxes, and see what comes out!

'Tutt' and 'Lepidoptera' bring up a long list of titles, which are not easy to sort out, as the filenames do not correspond to the volume numbers, but I eventually downloaded all the published volumes. Vols. 6 and 7 were never produced and vols. 8 - 10, which cover the butterflies, are sometimes referred to as vols.1 - 3 of British Butterflies, with an additional vol.4, produced posthumously by George Wheeler from notes left by Tutt.

One aspect that appealed me, in particular, was his interest in photography. He describes in great detail how he constructed a special camera to photograph butterfly eggs. This used a microscope (without eyepiece) coupled through a series of bellows to a half-plate camera back. I was amused by his description of the difficulty of focussing the microscope "as the distance from the ground glass was too great for my arm". He then describes how he made an arrangement of pulleys and elastic cords, to act as a remote control, so that he could focus while his head was under the black cloth - clearly, a very resourceful character!

I suspect his books must have been among the first to show butterflies in their natural environment. He must have been very frustrated that colour photography was not available! As an example, the following plate of the Green Hairstreak is from 'Lepidoptera' vol.9:

Green Hairstreak Butterflies

Previously, I have used the Internet Archive to find other 'classic' works. Sadly, although Moses Harris 'Aurelian' is there, it only has the uncoloured engravings. A modern facsimile of this work, with coloured ilulstrations, is however available for around £15, and it is wonderful to browse through and admire the skill of the early illustrators.

Another work that I have downloaded is Edward Donovan's 'Natural History of British Insects'. The cover of the first volume states 'In Ten Volumes' but it was a work that grew in the making and there are 16 volumes in all, with beautiful illustrations, such as this Camberwell Beauty:

Camberwell Beauty

So, I have found plenty to keep me interested and almost look forward to rainy days, so that I can enjoy looking at more of these remarkable works

Mike

[Pete Eeles]

Hi Mike - plenty more on the references page, should you get bored

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/references.php

Cheers,

- Pete

[Goldie M]

Hi! Mike, I hope your various reasons are not from poor health, I've had a sample of that recently

Your last posting made very interesting reading Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Hi Goldie - Thank you for your concern but it's OK - I'm fine but have had a number of other activities to attend to recently.

Hope your holiday in The Broads is a success - I must update my Swallowtail pics sometime, too

Mike

[MikeOxon]

Thanks Pete - lots of bedtime reading, then

Mike

[Jack Harrison]

Mike

As is so often the case, we learn a little about the mechanisms that control these patterns when things go wrong. So, spots can turn into lines, if the regulating genes fail to 'turn off' at the correct time during the growth of the wing.

Entomologists often treasure such genetic abnormalities as being attractive yet some genetic problems in humans (eg cystic fibrosis or Huntington's) cause great distress.

Jack

[peterc]

Interesting stuff, Mike.

Tomorrow seems like a good day for reading unless it's fine at Headingley (cricket)

ATB

Peter

[MikeOxon]

Indeed, Jack. I'm also uncomfortable about the behaviour of some twitchers, who harass poor lost birds to get their 'ticks'. In the case of humans, even if we have identified the causes as genetic, there are ethical problems concerning what we do about them.

Mike

[MikeOxon]

With a really warm sunny day, today (4th June), I set out for Lough Down, above Streatley, Berks, confidently expecting to get photos and views of Adonis Blues. Alas, I was to be disappointed. This has been a good site for many years but the grasses have been allowed to grow much longer and the path edges, which had previously provided good egg-laying sites, were all overgrown.

On my way to the former 'Adonis' area from the car-park, I paused near a Small Blue site and several of these feisty butterflies were flying!

Lough Down, Streatley - 4th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 mm lens - 1/1600s @ f/11 ISO400

Lough Down, Streatley - 4th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 mm lens - 1/800s @ f/9 ISO400

Lough Down, Streatley - 4th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 mm lens - 1/800s @ f/9 ISO400

In the field, they can all look like females, since the scatter of blue scales on the males easily get 'lost' against the dark background. I particularly like the way these scales sparkle in the sun in my 'head-on' shot.

After taking these photos, I moved on to the open slope, usually well-populated with blues, but today it looked more like a butterfly-free zone. The occasional Brimstone flew by and then, at last, I saw a flash of brilliant blue - surely an Adonis? - but it disappeared as rapidly as it appeared. An extended search only revealed a few bright male Common Blues and some darker, blue female Common Blues (most females seem to be blue this year). I began to doubt my initial sighting, even though it had seemed to have that electric brilliance. Other people I met had not seen any Adonis either, although some of this species had been seen at the nearby 'Holies' site.

In some compensation, clear skies gave a good view of Saturn, low in the sky to the South towards midnight. The planet itself is surprisingly bright, so the following photo is a composite, made up of a short exposure of the planet itself, pasted over a longer exposure to show the moon Titan and a few neighbouring stars.

Abingdon, Oxon - 3rd June 2015
Nikon D300s with 300f4 lens + 1.4X TC - 1/60s (Saturn) & 1/2s : f/5.6 ISO 1000

Since it is clear again tonight, I shall try for some more shots.

Mike

[David M]

That's a great astronomical image, Mike.

Titan is ridiculously bright given how much smaller it is than its parent planet.

[MikeOxon]

Thank you David. No luck tonight, as it has clouded over locally. Titan is very bright, due to its cloud cover but, as I explained in the post, I have enhanced the brightness, relative to the planet, by giving extra exposure. I always feel a buzz, seeing Saturn's rings through a 'scope - one of those remarkable sights that no-one knew about for thousands of years!

Mike

[MikeOxon]

Having 'dipped' on the Adonis Blue at Lough Down yesterday, I decided to return today (5th June) to have a look at 'The Holies' which is a National Trust site, a little to the South of Streatley. There is a small car park on the A329 at SU596798, from where it is a steep climb up to the earthwork known as Grim's Ditch. Here the turf is short, with plenty of Horseshoe Vetch, along with many other characteristic chalk-downland flowers.

Although it was mainly sunny, with some scattered cloud, there was a stiff cool breeze, when I first arrived, and the butterflies were keeping close to the ground. At this stage I saw my first Painted Lady this year (breaking a year-long drought for me), although only as a rapid fly-past. There were several Common Blues and a few day-flying moths, including Pyrausta purpuralis and some very bright Burnet Companions (Euclidia glyphica)

'The Holies' (NT), Streatley - 5th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/400s @ f/7.1 ISO400

As the afternoon wore on, the wind dropped and the temperature rose, and soon I saw the flash of electric blue that I had been hoping for, in the area of the earthwork. I followed several individuals and it soon became apparent that most were very worn, although the brilliant blue still shone brightly in the sunlight.

They might have been rather battered, with virtually non-existent fringes, but the males were very active in their pursuit of females and I observed plenty of courtship activity.

'The Holies' (NT), Streatley - 5th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800s @ f/10 ISO400

I also began to realise that there was something unusual about many of the individuals - the blue was brilliant but rather pale and, when I got a close view, there was a distinct line of dark spots along the trailing edge of the wings.

'The Holies' (NT), Streatley - 5th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/640s @ f/8 ISO400

They reminded me very much of Chalkhill Blues and, after some reading on the site, I think they may be the hybrids, known as X Polonis. Perhaps some of the experts could comment on my photos, please.

'The Holies' (NT), Streatley - 5th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800s @ f/10 ISO400

'The Holies' (NT), Streatley - 5th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800s @ f/9 ISO400

Meanwhile, the females were busy egg-laying on the Horseshoe Vetch:

'The Holies' (NT), Streatley - 5th June 2015
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/640s @ f/6.3 ISO400

So, after disappointment yesterday, I felt this had been a particularly interesting afternoon

Mike

[Pauline]

At first glance I really thought they were Chalkhills Mike. What a great find! I shall be very interested to read what the experts have to say.

[Jack Harrison]

Those "Adonis Blues hybrids" - if that is what they are- are stunning. You say Mike that many were of this type. Majority or just a sizeable minority? I wonder if these breed true? Is this an isolated colony remote from others? In other words, might you have possibly been witnessing the evolution of a new species Polyommatus flemmingi?

Jack

[MikeOxon]

Thank you, Jack. I think the name 'Polonus' has already been 'bagged' When I wrote 'many', I meant 'many of my sightings' but, since they were all dashing around, it's hard to decide how many different individuals were present.

From what I have read, the hybrids are usually sterile, so there's little chance of an ongoing population. It is also curious that, despite Chalkhills only having a late emergence, the hybrids usually appear in the Spring brood of Adonis.

On the subject of unusual sightings, I have had a few more visits from a white Starling (probably one of last year's brood), as recorded since 2008 - see http://home.btconnect.com/mike.flemming/WStarling.htm

Mike